Raw Sugar
by LeetheFlea
Summary: Modern AU. Anna and Hans are engaged, but Hans has been going behind her back. A lot. Completely torn to pieces, Anna leaves and finds herself in a bad grind. Luckily, she has a bit of guardian angel, and he helps bring her broken soul back to life. Giving her hope that maybe she can live through the raw deal. Or can she? Kristanna
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey gang! I've had another Frozen fic on the mind lately and finally decided to go along with it. It's another one of those "Hans and Anna are engaged but Hans doesn't really give a shit, so she finds you-know-who" but with a bit of a twist to it! Sorry in advance to those of you who dig on Hans, seeing as how I've made him a complete dick in this (please don't hate me!) Anyway, I'll be putting out a new chapter every other day, depending on how long it takes me to get it all down. Hope you guys like it! Please review and give me your feedback, it helps a ton! Thank you! Also, I don't own a thing. All character rights go to Disney, but you already knew that. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Hans Westerguard was as drunk as a skunk. But this wasn't anything new. Like clockwork he'd stroll into the same joint, sit in the same stool, slam three shots of bourbon, have a few beers in between, then finish off a couple more shots. All the while flirting with the barmaids that bustled around serving their tables.

Now, in retrospect, this is all just basic bar behavior. Excluding occasional fights or outbreaks between drunkards. Which he never really had a taste for. Hans was respectful of the other patrons—sometimes engaging them in light conversation. Just mindless chitchat. But he tended to only do so with the women around. It wasn't unusual to see girls dangling off of him like coat hangers.

Hans is a handsome, twenty-something year old working at a law firm his father inherited from _his_ grandfather. Westerguard & Sons resides just outside the pit of Downtown Arendelle, off the intersection at Southern and Isles. That goes without saying the Westerguards didn't just have money, they were made of it.

The Rabbit Hole was his designated place of drink. The food wasn't that bad and, in Hans' opinion, it had the cutest waitresses. Another plus was how close it was to the office. About seven or eight blocks down the street. Over time, Hans became "good buddies" with the owner Alice Rosewood, a tall woman with thick, beautiful dark hair and rosy cheeks. A couple years ago the bar used to belong to her older brother Ralphie. But they knew the name Alice went with the whole "wonderland" theme that the bar's known for—therefore bringing in more business.

It was quiet that Tuesday afternoon. Most of the late night drunks hadn't shown up yet. They usually rolled in around dinner time, which wasn't for another forty five minutes or so. Giving Hans just enough time get a good buzz going and chat with the barmaids before they got swamped with the late rush. Although his flirting with the staff could be a bit excessive at times, he was never aggressive with them. Actually, in most cases, girls pursued _him_ first. Talking to him about their day, or about their plans for the weekend. Seems pretty harmless, right?

Yes, well. It would be if Hans wasn't getting married.

* * *

"Well, well. It must be my lucky day," Alice said smoothly from across the bar counter. Heavy bangs hung in her face and she absently brushed them away from her eyes. She swiftly poured two shot glasses of Johnny Walker, and dropped one in front of Hans.

"I could say the same," he replied and knocked back the spiced substance.

Alice smirked and finished her shot before serving up a Gin 'n Tonic to one of the regulars. As Hans glanced around he noticed a wave of female hands fly to lips, hair and necklines. He gave acknowledging nods to some of them, receiving sensual smiles and winks in return.

Even though tons of girls bathed in his artificial affection, a wide sum of women found him repulsive. Their opinions plummeted when they heard about the girl back at home. They didn't know who she was, but they pitied her. The poor, ignorant fool.

On the other hand, some of them found it exciting to get involved with an almost married man. His charming demeanor helped him out, too. Hans was obvious slime, but many women seemed willing to overlook that bit. Besides, what do they care? They were only interested in the pursuit of sex. And it was as if Hans was delivering free hand-outs.

Rosewood watched him parade himself around with his white flashy smiles and silent greetings. A snicker releasing from her lips as she poured herself another shot.

"Don't you get tired of that?" she asked, only curiosity in her voice. She mindlessly toyed with a silver hoop earring she could wear as a bracelet.

Alice always wore impressive jewelry to counteract her boring uniform; a black V neck with the logo of the bar in jazzy neon purple above the right breast. The "O" in the word Hole twisted into a spiral. She'd pair that with some black skinny-legged pants and little black sneakers. For a flare of color she'd sometimes paint her nails. Tonight they were screaming fire engine red.

"What else would I do for fun?" he laughed.

"Ah, so I guess I'm just for fun then, too?" she teased, leaning over the bar on her forearms. Her T-shirt cut just low enough for him to peer at her cleavage.

"You're not fun," he paused. "More like exciting," Hans said, his voice cool and clear like water running over smooth stones. The woman behind the bar grinned with cheeks so tight they might've cracked.

"Exciting," she repeated. "Well, I'm flattered." Rosewood put a long-fingered hand to her chest. She switched her eyes to Hans—a storm brewing in them. With a curved lip and words rich as honey she said, "You took the words right out of my mouth."

Her brilliant blue eyes dropped down briefly to Hans' crotch. But to her disappointment he wasn't wearing those snug jeans she liked. Instead he was in his work clothes; a charcoal suit that was absolutely correct. He'd ditched the jacket and tie about halfway through his first beer. Hans glanced around again, and found that the place still wasn't all that busy. There were little clusters of people sprinkled about, but it didn't look like anything the waitresses couldn't handle. A dirty idea pushed it's way to the front of his mind.

"Meet me in back?" It wasn't so much a question as it was a demand.

"I don't know," she trailed. "That depends on how good you feel like being." She lifted her hand and wiggled her polished ring finger.

Recognition flushed over Hans' face and Alice turned her back to grab a bottle of Absolut perched on a long mirrored shelf. She quickly poured herself a glass and plopped in four olives. Although her face fell from its playful smile, Hans knew he could sweep the woman off her feet in no time. Popular opinion had it she didn't need much sweeping to begin with. Alice was young, attractive and the owner of a trendy bar. When good-looking guys would hit on her she'd throw them a bone. Or two.

The man sitting across from her took another sip of his beer. He was three in by now. The messy fog swirling around in his head was growing thicker. It felt good. However, upon hearing of his fiance, that fog cleared and for half a second the weighted sounds of the bar came fluttering back. The Dandy Warhols' tune "We Used To Be Friends" was blaring over the speakers. At the moment, it was a bit annoying but strangely adding to his arousal. Hans wondered what time it was. He stole a quick glance at the creepy Cheshire Cat clock mounted on the wall behind the bar.

He still had time.

"I wasn't planning on it," he said, sounding matter-of-fact.

Ten minutes later he was fucking the owner on her office desk.

* * *

Alice peeled her panties off the floor after hooking on her bra. Part of Alice's "excitement" was her decadent taste in underthings. Just as she stepped into them, Hans stopped her. "Wait," he breathed. "One more time?"

Rosewood scoffed and shook his hands away, yanking her panties up.

"Go home to your girlfriend, Hans," she said, more sharply than she intended. "Its past your suppertime." She wagged a finger at him, then finished getting dressed.

"Shit, you're right," he sighed, fishing the cell phone out of his pant's pocket and lighting it up. "I forgot about Anna." He pushed a hand through his auburn hair and he suddenly felt winded. His orgasm took a lot out of him.

Alice threw the white button-down at him, "I need you out of my office."

Hans shuffled into his clothes and exited the small room from the back of the bar. After visiting the bathroom down the hall, he chugged his last bit of beer and gathered his things with haste. Reinhardt gestured to Alice and told her he'd call soon. Then, quick as a wink, he was out the door and in his car.

He drove home, still a bit drunk.

* * *

**A/N: Sooo, yeah. Complete dick. Also since the movie didn't give him a last name I just sorta made one up. Wanted it to sound fancy. Annnd for mah Veronica Mars fans (woot woot) I threw in the opening theme. Y'know, cause Kristen Bell n stuff. Plus it's a total jam.  
**

**I'll have the next chapter up soon so stay tuned! -TheFlea**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys, chapter numbah 3 up for your reading pleasure. I'll get 4 out by the weekend. Please read & review!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

When the sun came up, Anna managed a half hour of sleep. The sofa wasn't as comfortable as she thought it was going to be—especially with Olaf wrapped around her legs. She started to rise to make some coffee, but there didn't seem to be much of a point. So she lounged on the couch and tried to get a little more sleep.

But that hadn't panned out like she hoped.

She could hear Hans stirring and shutting the bathroom door. A little while later she heard the shower head come on. For the first time in forever, Anna had no desire to talk to him.

They've had their ups and downs, about a year's worth, but this fight was different. She went to bed mad last night and that was a rare thing for Anna. So mad, in fact, she couldn't even sleep in the same bed as him, let alone the same room.

Since her mind was running over the course of what happened, she was getting pissed all over again. Who did he think he was? If she was going to be his wife then this drinking business would have to end. She wasn't about to spend the rest of her life waiting up for her drunk husband to come home and pick fights with her. Anna could take a lot. But being treated this way by the man she supposedly loved was something she just couldn't.

Anna rolled out of the living room and into the kitchen, whipping up some breakfast for herself. She wondered if she should lay something out for Hans. _"He's a big boy, he can help himself_," she thought as she poured some orange juice into a tall glass. Just as she sat down at the kitchen table, Hans fumbled into the room. His movements sluggish and heavy. He was clearly suffering from a hangover. "_Serves him right._"

"Good morning," she said softly.

"Yeah. Morning." It was as if he was desperately trying to be civil. "Where's the coffee?" he whined.

"I didn't feel like making it. But you can make some if you want."

"Fuck, Anna, I'm going to be late," he hissed, ripping a coffee filter from the cabinet above the pot.

"Not my problem," she retorted, sipping her juice.

"I beg to differ. All you had to do was get up and make some. Jesus, Anna, I can't be on top of everything."

"And you think I can? It's a pot of coffee, Hans. It's not the end of the world."

The man scowled and went on with making the coffee.

Anna sat in silence, eating her food and contemplating her situation. She wasn't sure if she could stand being around him another night. Just then, a lovely idea popped into her head and she sat up a bit straighter, feeling better already. She missed her sister, Elsa.

Since the grand proposal, Anna hadn't seen much of her. Elsa was married and currently pregnant with her first child. Her husband, Jackson Frost, worked at an advertising company on the northern side of downtown. Not that far from Westerguard & Sons, in fact. Jackson (Jack) was generally known for his white as snow hair that stuck out like a sore thumb. Frost was slightly older than Elsa's twenty six.

Since things were on edge with Hans, Anna found it to be a perfect time to visit her older sister. Maybe stay with her a day or two.

"I think I'm going to go stay with Elsa for a few days," she said gingerly.

"Fine with me," he remarked, then mumbled a few other things under his breath.

"Great. I'll go call her now. Have a nice day."

Anna left the brooding Hans to his breakfast and stomped into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She perched on her side of the bed and picked up the corded reciever that sat neatly on the cherry wood nightstand. A little address book with a deep green leather binding rested beside it. While Anna still needed to look up the numbers of others, she knew Elsa's by heart.

"Hello?" came the dreary voice on the other end. Anna almost didn't recognize her.

"Elsa?"

"Anna?" the voice perked up immediately.

"Yeah, how's it going? You sound, err, preoccupied," she said carefully.

"What? Oh, yeah. No, it's just—I've been trying to get thiss, urrrgh, goddamn bra on. But these cantaloupes that have now replaced my breasts are making that neearrly impossible. Christ, Anna. If I knew this is what pregnancy entailed I wouldn't have fucking signed up." Elsa took a much need breath.

"Oh. Uh, sorry about that. Where's Jack? Can't he, ah, help?"

Anna was used to Elsa's cursing.

"No, he left already. I guess I can just go around the house topless for six hours," she huffed. "So, what's new with you? I feel like I haven't talked to you in years."

"I know, I was thinking the same," Anna smiled.

"How's the wedding planning going? Isn't it exciting to see just how much money you'll be spending?" That Elsa—what a kidder.

"Ha, yeah. Well, that's kind of why I'm calling..." she trailed off.

"What's wrong?"

"Well. I-I don't know, Elsa. Things have been really...weird, between Hans and I."

"Really? Like what?"

"I don't know. He's just. Different than I what I thought," she spoke softly in case Hans was still wandering around the house. "He's drinking. A lot. And, it just seems like he doesn't really want to be around me anymore."

Actually saying it aloud hurt like hell. Anna absently put a hand to her heart, tears beginning to pinch at her.

"Aw Anna. I'm sorry. Why don't you come over, I'll make some ice tea or something. We can talk all about it."

"That'd be wonderful. Um, could I maybe come stay there a few days? I just really need some space from Hans," Anna said, her throat tightening.

"Of course, sweetie. I'll get the spare bedroom ready for you."

"Thank you, Elsa. What time should I come?" she asked, struggling to keep her voice even.

"I'd say in an hour? I still have to fucking figure out how to get dressed," she said exasperated.

"Sure," Anna laughed lightly.

"Okay, great. See you soon."

Anna hung up the phone, feeling a bit torn. She felt better for the most part, and was excited to see her sister. But the realization of her lingering suspicion had nearly bulldozed the life out of her. Was that the case? Was Hans _really_ just trying to avoid her? It sure felt like it. But then again, why would he have proposed to her if he didn't want her around? Was he put up to it or something, like a bribe? Would he get some kind of award for marrying her?

No, the way he was acting now was completely different from when they first met. In the beginning was he gentle and kind. He made her feel pretty and loved. And now there was no sign of that person anywhere. It was as if they were never really there to begin with—like a hallucination. She was confused as to why this was. Their good standing relationship seemed to vanish faster than she could snap her fingers.

Had _she_ done something wrong? Upset him in some way? If she had, he was going about it all wrong. Rather than just talking to her, he was hiding behind a liquor bottle and refusing to step up to the plate. The man's occupation was at a LAW FIRM for crying out loud. It shouldn't be this difficult for him to address whatever he was feeling with her.

Either there was something else going on, or he was in the wrong business.

Anna decided she couldn't sit and question their relationship anymore. The pain was soaking through with each passing minute. She sprang from her seat on the bed and cascaded down the hall to the master bath.

The bathroom was lovely. The wallpaper was sponged in a beautiful silver and Tiffany blue, and a dark floral design cascaded down in vertical rows. Black tile framed a large single mirror and the wall behind the stand alone sink. Taupe titles fully lined the walk in shower, and matched a slightly darker tile that ran across the floor. A pretty, little crystal chandelier hung above her head as she washed her face and brushed her teeth.

She was thinking of skipping a shower but since she hadn't seen in her sister in awhile, she wanted to look a little nice. Maybe they'd go to lunch or something later. Anna lathered up good and coated the ends of her hair in handfuls of conditioner. Her braids always looked better when her hair was silky smooth. She quickly slapped on some light makeup and pulled out underwear from her dresser drawers. Anna scanned the contents of her closet and found a pear green sweater and some dark blue jeans.

The redhead tugged a smallish purple suitcase out from the back of the closet and filled it with necessities; clothes, underwear, shoes, some makeup. Slugging her purse over her shoulder, she carefully slipped her feet into a pair of black flats and snatched the keys lying on the card table by the front door.

Anna was determined to have a nice time with her sister. She needed it more than she wanted to admit.

* * *

The drive over to Elsa's was an easy one. It was about 7 miles away from Hans' place, and the route she took was scenic with lots of parks and beaches of the surrounding lakes to see. Anna was a pretty good singer and always sang along to the radio, sometimes harmonizing with the melody. She really liked singing. It helped take her mind away from her many little unhappinesses.

She turned off the main road and headed south on Kirkland Drive. Elsa's neighborhood was typical—houses ranging from large to medium with painted shutters that matched the front doors. Children playing in their yards, cars parked along the street. As she turned onto Elsa's street, she noticed another car parked in front of her house. It was a pickup, black with chrome detailing. The sun sparkling off it made it look like new. Anna pulled up into Elsa's driveway, seeing as she would be staying there a couple days. She emerged from her little car and grabbed her purse, leaving the small suitcase of things in the backseat. She didn't need anything in it right away.

The house was built with several shades of beige brick and the paint job was fresh. Elsa must have called someone out. Or maybe Jack went to work on it with his free time. The front door was a dark color, almost black, and it matched the shutters and garage door giving the house a clean and sharp look. Some shrubbery hugged the steps leading up to the front porch, and magnolia flowerbeds were planted along on either side. As she lifted her hand to knock, the door suddenly swung open. To her surprise it, wasn't her sister greeting her, but a large man that took up most of the doorway. He was tall with shaggy golden hair that hung just above deep amber eyes. He had a handsome face with a strong jaw and a slightly large nose. Anna never met him before in her life—so she had no idea what connection he had with Elsa.

He was holding a clipboard. Meaning he must have been there to fix something? She didn't know.

Anna shyly stepped aside for the man to exit the house, and clasped her hands in front of her. Their eyes met briefly and she nodded at him with a small smile. He returned the gesture and walked out toward his truck. Her blue eyes trailed after him, and as he stepped up into the vehicle she noticed a dog pop up in the front seat. "_Huh, weird,_" she thought to herself. "He's cute, though."

"What?"

Anna jumped about six inches out of her skin. She whirled around and found her sister standing behind her with a face that read trouble.

"Who was that?"

"Oh, that's the ice guy. He comes out to the house and delivers a few bags every couple weeks," Elsa replied, watching the black truck roll away.

"You get it delivered?"

"Yeah, it's easier for us to do it this way than run all the way across town to the store. Plus it helps out the guy's business. Not that many people around here order ice anymore, other than like, restaurants or whatever," Elsa explained, walking back into the living room.

With a faint giggle, Anna stepped into the house and proceeded her visit with Elsa—her mind occasionally drifting and wondering about the ice guy.

* * *

**Ah, the ice guy. More on Kristoff in the next chapter so get excited. Thank you for reading! **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys, chapter numbah 3 up for your reading pleasure. I'll get 4 out by the weekend. Please read & review!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

When the sun came up, Anna managed a half hour of sleep. The sofa wasn't as comfortable as she thought it was going to be—especially with Olaf wrapped around her legs. She started to rise to make some coffee, but there didn't seem to be much of a point. So she lounged on the couch and tried to get a little more sleep. But that hadn't panned out like she hoped. She could hear Hans stirring and shutting the bathroom door. A little while later she heard the shower head come on. For the first time in forever, Anna had no desire to talk to him. They've had their ups and downs, about a year's worth, but this fight was different. She went to bed mad last night and that was a rare thing for Anna. So mad, in fact, she couldn't even sleep in the same bed as him, let alone the same room.

Since her mind was running over the course of what happened, she was getting pissed all over again. Who did he think he was? If she was going to be his wife then this drinking business would have to end. She wasn't about to spend the rest of her life waiting up for her drunk husband to come home and pick fights with her. Anna could take a lot. But being treated this way by the man she supposedly loved was something she just couldn't.

Anna rolled out of the living room and into the kitchen, whipping up some breakfast for herself. She wondered if she should lay something out for Hans. _"He's a big boy, he can help himself_," she thought as she poured some orange juice into a tall glass. Just as she sat down at the kitchen table, Hans fumbled into the room. His movements sluggish and heavy. He was clearly suffering from a hangover. "_Serves him right._"

"Good morning," she said softly.

"Yeah. Morning." It was as if he was desperately trying to be civil. "Where's the coffee?" he whined.

"I didn't feel like making it. But you can make some if you want."

"Fuck, Anna, I'm going to be late," he hissed, ripping a coffee filter from the cabinet above the pot.

"Not my problem," she retorted, sipping her juice.

"I beg to differ. All you had to do was get up and make some. Jesus, Anna, I can't be on top of everything."

"And you think I can? It's a pot of coffee, Hans. It's not the end of the world."

The man scowled and went on with making the coffee. Anna sat in silence, eating her food and contemplating her situation. She wasn't sure if she could stand being around him another night. Then, a lovely idea popped into her head and she sat up a bit straighter, feeling a tiny bit better already. She missed her sister, Elsa. Since the proposal, she hadn't seen much of her. Elsa was married and currently pregnant with her first child. Her husband, Jackson Frost, worked at an advertising company in downtown. Not that far from Rienhardt & Sons, actually. (Jack was generally known for his white as snow hair). Since things with Hans was on edge, she thought it'd be a good idea to visit her. Maybe stay a little while.

"I think I'm gonna go stay with Elsa for a few days. Wait for things to cool down here," Anna said gingerly.

"Fine with me," he remarked, then mumbled some other things under his breath.

"Great. I'll go call her now. Have a nice day."

Anna left the brooding Hans to his breakfast and stomped into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She perched on her side of the bed and picked up the corded phone that sat neatly on the cherry wood nightstand. A little address book with green leather binding rested beside it. While Anna still needed to look up the numbers of others, she knew Elsa's by heart.

"Hello?" came the dreary voice on the other end. Anna almost didn't recognize her.

"Elsa?"

"Anna?" the voice perked up immediately.

"Yeah, how's it going? You sound, err, preoccupied," she said carefully.

"What? Oh, yeah. No, it's just—I've been trying to get thiss, urrrgh, goddamn bra on. But these cantaloupes that have now replaced my breasts are making that neearrly impossible. Christ, Anna. If I knew this is what pregnancy entailed I wouldn't have fucking signed up." Elsa took a much need breath.

"Oh. Uh, sorry about that. Where's Jack? Can't he, ah, help?" Anna was used to Elsa's cursing.

"No, he left already. Maybe I can just go around the house topless for six hours," she huffed. "So, what's new with you? I feel like I haven't talked to you in years."

"I know, I was thinking the same," Anna smiled.

"How's the wedding planning going? Isn't it exciting to see how much money you'll be spending?" That Elsa—what a kidder.

"Ha, yeah. Well, that's kind of why I'm calling..." she trailed off.

"What's wrong?"

"Well. I-I don't know, Elsa. Things have been really...weird, between Hans and I."

"Really? Like what?"

"I don't know. He's just. Different than I what I thought," she spoke softly in case Hans was still wandering around the house. "He's drinking. A lot. And, it just seems like he doesn't really want to be around me anymore." Actually saying it aloud hurt like hell. Anna absently put a hand to her heart, tears beginning to pinch at her.

"Aw Anna. I'm sorry. Why don't you come over, I'll make some ice tea or something. We can talk all about it then."

"That'd be wonderful. Um, could I maybe come stay there a few days? I just really need some space from Hans," Anna said, her throat tightening.

"Of course, sweetie. I'll get the spare bedroom ready for you."

"Thank you, Elsa. What time should I come?" she asked, struggling to keep her voice even.

"I'd say in an hour? I still have to fucking figure out how to get dressed," she said exasperated.

"Sure," Anna laughed lightly.

"Okay, great. See you soon."

Anna hung up the phone, feeling ripped in half. She felt better for the most part, and was excited to see her sister. But the realization of her lingering suspicion had nearly bulldozed the life out of her. Was that the case? Was Hans _really_ just trying to avoid her? It sure felt like it. But then again, why would he have proposed to her if he didn't want her around? Was he put up to it or something, like a bribe? Would he get some kind of award for marrying her? No, the way he was acting now was completely different from when they first met. In the beginning was he gentle and kind. He made her feel pretty and loved. And now there was no sign of that person anywhere. It was as if they were never really there to begin with—like a hallucination. She was confused as to why this was. Their good standing relationship seemed to vanish faster than she could snap her fingers. Had _she_ done something wrong? Upset him in some way? If she had, he was going about it all wrong. Rather than just talking to her, he was hiding behind a liquor bottle and refusing to step up to the plate. The man's occupation was at a LAW FIRM for crying out loud. It shouldn't be this difficult for him to address whatever he was feeling with her.

Either there was something else going on, or he was in the wrong business.

Anna decided she couldn't sit and question their relationship anymore. The pain was soaking through with each passing minute. She sprang from her seat on the bed and cascaded down the hall to the master bath. The bathroom was lovely. Beautiful silver and Tiffany blue sponged wallpaper with a dark gray floral design running down vertically in rows covered the walls. Black tile framed the single large mirror and the wall behind the stand alone sink. Taupe titles fully lined the walk in shower, matching a slightly darker tile that ran across the floor. A pretty, little crystal chandelier hung above her head as she washed her face and brushed her teeth.

She was thinking of skipping a shower but since she hadn't seen in her sister in awhile, she wanted to look a little nice. Maybe they'd go to lunch or something later. Anna lathered up good and coated the ends of her hair in handfuls of conditioner. Her braids always looked better when her hair was silky smooth. She quickly slapped on some light makeup and pulled out underwear from her dresser drawers. Anna scanned the contents of her closet and found a pear green sweater and some dark blue jeans.

The redhead tugged a smallish purple suitcase out from the back of the closet and filled it with necessities; clothes, underwear, shoes, some makeup. Slugging her purse over her shoulder, she carefully slipped her feet into a pair of black flats and snatched the keys lying on the card table by the front door.

Anna was determined to have a nice time with her sister. She needed it more than she wanted to admit.

* * *

The drive over to Elsa's was an easy one. It was about 7 miles away from Hans' place, and the route she took was scenic with lots of parks and beaches of the surrounding lakes to see. Anna was a pretty good singer and always sang along to the radio, sometimes harmonizing with the melody. She really liked singing. It helped take her mind away from her many little unhappinesses.

She turned off the main road and headed south on Kirkland Drive. Elsa's neighborhood was typical—houses ranging from large to medium with painted shutters that matched the front doors. Children playing in their yards, cars parked along the street. As she turned onto Elsa's street, she noticed another car parked in front of her house. It was a pickup, black with chrome detailing. The sun sparkling off it made it look like new. Anna pulled up into Elsa's driveway, seeing as she would be staying there a couple days. She emerged from her little car and grabbed her purse, leaving the small suitcase of things in the backseat. She didn't need anything in it right away.

The house was built with several shades of beige brick and the paint job was fresh. Elsa must have called someone out. Or maybe Jack went to work on it with his free time. The front door was a dark color, almost black, and it matched the shutters and garage door giving the house a clean and sharp look. Some shrubbery hugged the steps leading up to the front porch, and magnolia flowerbeds were planted along on either side. As she lifted her hand to knock, the door suddenly swung open. To her surprise it, wasn't her sister greeting her, but a large man that took up most of the doorway. He was tall with shaggy golden hair that hung just above deep amber eyes. He had a handsome face with a strong jaw and a slightly large nose. Anna never met him before in her life—so she had no idea what connection he had with Elsa.

He was holding a clipboard. Meaning he must have been there to fix something? She didn't know.

Anna shyly stepped aside for the man to exit the house, and clasped her hands in front of her. Their eyes met briefly and she nodded at him with a small smile. He returned the gesture and walked out toward his truck. Her blue eyes trailed after him, and as he stepped up into the vehicle she noticed a dog pop up in the front seat. "_Huh, weird,_" she thought to herself. "He's cute, though."

"What?"

Anna jumped about six inches out of her skin. She whirled around and found her sister standing behind her with a face that read trouble.

"Who was that?"

"Oh, that's the ice guy. He comes out to the house and delivers a few bags every couple weeks," Elsa replied, watching the black truck roll away.

"You get it delivered?"

"Yeah, it's easier for us to do it this way than run all the way across town to the store. Plus it helps out the guy's business. Not that many people around here order ice anymore, other than like, restaurants or whatever," Elsa explained, walking back into the living room.

With a faint giggle, Anna stepped into the house and proceeded her visit with Elsa—her mind occasionally drifting and wondering about the ice guy.

* * *

**Ah, the ice guy. More on Kristoff in the next chapter so get excited. Thank you for reading! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys. Sorry this is so late, things have been hectic in the the real world. But I managed to finish this chap up so, hooray! Hope you all like it!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Elsa was rummaging through the refrigerator when Anna let herself in. She stood at the island, leaning up against the beautiful counter tops. Because Jack was in advertising, naturally they had some money to play with. Elsa's home was lovely, and Anna made sure to tell her so. The walls were painted in soft neutral colors, and the contemporary furniture was placed throughout nicely. Elsa had a hidden knack as a homemaker. Since Anna hadn't seen her in awhile, she noticed how big she'd gotten—the little bump poking out from beneath her top was the confirmation. Elsa had to have been between fourteen or fifteen weeks pregnant. Meaning she's about four months in. Her pale hair was twisted into it's usual thick braid and was gently placed over her shoulder. She pulled out a glass belly pitcher, and two cups from a cabinet and began fixing the iced tea.

Like a good hostess, she also set out the sugar bowl, napkins, spoons, and spread some cookies out on a plate. Even her dishware was nice.

"Okay, talk," Elsa said, handing Anna her tea.

"Okay."

Anna explained the whole story to Elsa—about Hans' behavior, the drinking, his sudden neglect. The freckled girl did her best to talk steady and even, but with each mini revelation on her husband-to-be, it got harder to bite back her emotions. Eventually, she broke down. Tears streaming down her rosy cheeks, her eyes blurred with moisture. Anna held her sister's hand as she continued—sobbing between sentences. The redhead fished a tissue from her purse and tried to maintain her waterworks. As she did so, Elsa sat patiently, allowing Anna to piece herself back together. She felt bad for Anna. Truthfully, Elsa never much cared for Hans. He seemed...self-absorbed, to put it mildy. But he made Anna happy, (well, so she thought), and therefore accepted him for her sake. But after hearing how he was treating her younger sister, she felt she had plenty of excuses to rescind her acceptance.

"I just—I don't know what to do," Anna sniffled, finishing up her long rant.

"Hey, it's still not too late to back out of this thing. Trust me, it only gets worse, and you're not even married yet. If you're not happy, Anna, leave. Please. There's nothing more important than your happiness," Elsa stated, her face set in hard lines.

"But I love him Elsa. I know he's better than this, he just doesn't know it. Maybe he'll change after were married. Maybe this all just wedding jitters or something," she rationalized.

"I don't think so, Anna. If this is how it is now, who know's how it'll be down the road. I just want you to make the right choice. Don't buy if the product's faulty." Elsa couldn't stress that bit enough. She'd been in Anna's shoes once or twice before—just without the engagement ring.

Anna chewed that one over. Her sister was right. If things didn't shape up, she'd have to cut him loose. There was a sudden pain in her chest and she lifted her hands in surrender.

"Let's just talk about something else," Anna sighed, dabbing at her eyes with the tissue.

"Sure."

The sisters sat in silence for a moment, nibbling on the cookies and drinking their tea.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you! Zel's coming over with Eugene on Wednesday, maybe we could all go out to dinner or something," Elsa announced, trying her best to brighten Anna's spirits. "We could go to that Italian place you like."

"That'd be great. Gosh, I haven't seen them in so long."

Rapunzel was their cousin from the city of Corona—a three hour drive from Arendelle. She lived there with her husband, Eugene Fitzherbert.

"She told me she cut her hair. I haven't seen any photos yet, but she says it's pretty short."

"Really?" Anna marveled. Rapunzel (Zel for short) was known for her long hair.

"Yep, said she colored it too. She's back to brown. I think I'll like that better than the blond." For some reason, Elsa secretly liked being the only natural blond in the family. It gave her originality.

Anna shrugged. She'd been so wrapped up in the high winds of her relationship with Hans. It was nice to take a break from all the emotional chow-chow and see her family.

But when she crawled into bed that night, in the dark, Anna began crying, and didn't stop for a long, long time. It was not a night to count her blessings, but rather a night where all her little losses pressed hard on her. It seemed she'd had more bad luck than most people. Or maybe she just wasn't that good at picking out the right guys. Though she made a half-hearted attempt to fend off a deluge of self-pity, she wasn't too successful. It was wedged in there with the unexpected misery of Hans' proposal.

She wanted him to be curled up against her back; his soft lips on her neck. She wanted his hands running up and down her arms and tummy. She wanted to talk to him like she used to—freely, carelessly. She wanted him to laugh off her awful suspicions of where they were headed. She wanted him to tell her he quit drinking. She wanted to hear him say he loved her. That this partnership wasn't broken.

The sweetest part of being a couple was sharing your life with someone, but the only thing they shared was distaste and mistrust. Talk about a happily ever after.

* * *

"Here you go, hun. Two eggs scrambled, three slices of ham 'cut thick', four slabs of bacon cooked extra crispy, and a stack of dried toast—just how ya like."

"Thanks, Eileen" the burly man said, taking a slow sip of his coffee.

The waitress eyed him for a moment, soaking up the build of his bare arms and broad shoulders. She fantasizes her fingers raking through his messy, choppy blond hair. When he looked up at her she jumped and stalked away, embarrassment muddying her face.

Kristoff Bjorgman ate his breakfast silently, scanning the paper as he did so. Since his next delivery wasn't due for another hour, he took his time and chewed slowly. He mostly kept to himself and didn't really bother with talking to other people. Not because they didn't like him, but simply because he wasn't much of a "people person". In fact, he was more of a dog person. His mutt, Sven, could be seen following him around everywhere.

Kristoff left the diner about a quarter to two. Sven was sleeping in the back of his pickup when he slid into the font seat—smelling of bacon and eggs. The dog licked his face excitedly.

"Sorry buddy, I didn't bring anything back for you today," he said to his friend. "I'll feed ya when we get home. Only a few more stops." Kristoff's large hand rubbed the top of the dog's head between his ears. A glance at the clock told him he still had about 20 minutes to spare before he had to head out for the next place. He slumped back in his seat, unsure of how to breeze through the time. His dark eyes wandered down the street before him and fell upon a red haired girl. She was walking aimlessly, her eyes downcast to the sidewalk. She looked familiar. Kristoff looked harder, trying to make out her features as best he could.

Then he remembered.

She was the girl he bumped into the other day. The one visiting the blond woman. He watched from behind the wheel as she came closer. "_She's pretty,_" he said to himself, recalling her large eyes and freckle dusted cheeks. But something about her seemed different now. She looked...sad. Like a lonely puppy, or a lost child. Kristoff suddenly felt bad for her. That was weird.

He didn't even know this person, why was he having any feeling towards them? For all he knew, it was because she couldn't buy a pair of shoes she wanted, or something trivial like that. But this read as true sadness. The kind you feel after a death. (Wasn't there one?).

Anna trekked the dirty sidewalk, completely lost in her subconscious. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake her problems. She fell asleep a soppy mess and woke up feeling like one. Elsa encouraged her to take a walk around the city. Go shopping. Do something active where she could forget about things for a while. And she did. She went out and got a dress and some shoes for dinner Wednesday night. But the simplicity hadn't last long. The aches of anguish were tugging wildly at her again.

Sven took notice of Kristoff's unusual interest in the girl that was shuffling pass the car. Even though Sven is just a dog, he knew Kristoff needed a mate. A companion of some kind. Kristoff had been alone for as long as he could remember. It was time for a change. In a crazed slew of motion, Sven hopped to the front seat and threw all his weight against Kristoff. Sven was easily tipping in at 85-90 pounds if not heavier.

"Ah, Sven, get off!" Kristoff whined, pushing the dog's face away from his.

But the dog pressed harder against him, barking his piece as well.

"What's gotten into you? Get off me!"

In an attempt to pry Sven off, he pushed down on the car handle for purchase. To his delight, rather than getting the momentum to dislodge the canine, he accidentally opened the door from beneath him and fell out onto the pavement. Right at the startled feet of the pretty girl walking by.

Perfect. Just _perfect._

* * *

**So, so far so good? I know, I know, I only have a teensy bit of Kristoff in this chapter. BUT next chapter is going to be all about some Anna/Kristoff fluffy awesome. Their first meeting and things of that nature. Thank you so much for reading friends, and please review with ideas and feedback. It helps a lot! I'm always up for pleasing the readers. Thanks again :D -TheFlea**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey frands, finally finished up this chapter. First meetings are so fun to write! Especially with these two. This chapter also takes the story in a another direction, and I'm still figuring out where I wanna go with that. I've got some ideas. ANYWAY, without further ado, chapter 5, whoo hoo! Also I don't own anything, blah blah, you guys know the drill. **

**Enjoy!**

Anna squeaked in fright at the sudden puddle of man before her. Kristoff's legs were tangled in the car door, and as he peered up, he caught a glimpse of Sven's smug face. "_You're dead dog meat._" He hesitantly unfolded himself from the car and out of his awkward position.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Anna asked, kneeling down beside him.

Kristoff lifted a hand in response. Peeling himself off the sidewalk, he stood slowly making sure he didn't batter anything with his fall. At full height, Kristoff must've been somewhere around 6'1", 6'2". Now that she got a good look at the guy, Anna had to keep her mouth from hanging open.

Her expression flickered.

"Hey, I know you," she said quietly. "You're the ice guy."

"Yeah. Pigtails," he replied, pointing at her braids.

"Oh, yeah," she giggled nervously, stroking her hair, her fingers running over the smooth texture. "Your dog push you out?"

"Yeah, something like that." Kristoff rubbed his head and glared into the window. Sven ducked beneath the steering wheel and cowarded to the back of the pickup. His tail tucked neatly between his legs. Kristoff dusted himself off, "Sorry."

"Please, don't be," she said. "You sure you're alright?"

He nodded, "Thick skull." Kristoff playfully knocked on his head.

"Ah, that's lucky," Anna laughed.

He grinned in return. His teeth were perfect—white and sharp. As they stood in the brief silence, the redhead temporarily lost herself in his features. His dark eyes, his proud nose. The thick chunks of golden hair hugging the nape of his neck. Her eyes traveled down, absorbing the structure of his chest and shoulders. He was as big as a boulder, with biceps she could do pull-ups on. "_My my," _she thought happily to herself.

"I'm Anna Devereux," she said politely, sticking her hand out.

"Kristoff Bjorgman."

He shook it firmly, and nearly snapped her wrist off.

"You need a ride someplace?" he offered.

"Oh, uh." Anna thought about that for a minute. Yeah, he was really attractive and he seemed nice, but she wasn't stupid. Women who climb into the cars of strangers usually don't end up making it back home. She regarded him quizzically, trying to determine whether he'd be a threat or not. She wasn't sure. His eyes read tenderness, but who knows. Maybe that was all a facade, and Anna already made her fair share of bad decisions. "I think I'm okay, thank you."

"You sure? You might not make it back in this rain."

"_What's he talking about? It's not rai—_"

Anna looked up toward the heavily clouded skies. As if he pulled it from his ass, cold droplets of water hit her forehead and arms. Anna stood in slight disbelief, but as the rain pelted down harder, she rinsed off her incredulity and nodded to the big man. To hell with it. She was going to risk a small, dry car ride over a long, soggy walk home. Quick as a wink, she was pulling open the passenger door and lifting herself up into his car. Kristoff slid into the driver's seat, shaking the water from his long hair. He quickly shut his door and turned on the engine.

"Where can I take you?"

"Oh, ah, 3254 Winterlake Road," she answered anxiously, clicking in her seat belt.

"That's right, you were with that blond woman," he recalled.

"Yeah, she's my sister, Elsa."

"Your sister? I guess I could see that," his gruff voice was soothing.

"You have siblings?"

"Nah. I don't really have much family," he replied quietly. Anna could feel she hit a rough patch in the conversation, but her curiosity seemed to get the better of her (like always).

"So it's just you and your parents?" she asked deftly.

"No, they died when I was little."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said genuinely. She started sampling her braids again. She does that when she gets nervous.

"Don't be. It wasn't that bad. I went and lived with my aunt and uncle for awhile. Until I was stable enough to get a place of my own. So far it's just been me and Sven."

Anna shot a look in the backseat and saw the dog laying down on his side, his belly covered in soft white fur. She smiled at him, and his tail began wagging. Kristoff occasionally glanced over at Anna. Her hair was a little damp, and her clothes were slightly wrinkled from the sudden downpour, but otherwise, she was indeed _very_ alluring. A glint of her engagement ring caught his eye, and he inwardly felt somewhat disgruntled. He mentally shook himself.

"Who's the lucky guy?"

She met his amber eyes in surprise, "I'm sorry?"

"The ring," he said, jerking his eyes toward it.

"Oh." Anna studied the 14K circle cut diamond. The band was skinny and in a pretty rose gold color with two little diamonds on each side. Anna felt another stab of pain in her chest along with the familiar tightening of affliction. She momentarily forgot about the current landslide of disorder in her life, and why she was walking the streets of downtown in the first place. She momentarily forgot about her fiance.

"You forget about it or something?" he chuckled.

She snapped her eyes in his direction, and crumpled in her seat. Anna could be interpreted as someone who blabs to complete strangers about her life, but this specific tidbit was too painful a topic to go blathering on with. Somewhat deflated she answered, "Yeah, sort of." Suddenly, it dawned on her that Kristoff was the one responsible for her appeasement. She noticed the odd comfort she felt around him—like they'd known each other in a past life.

Kristoff sat up straighter, realizing he also hit a speed bump in their chitchat. He switched his eyes over to her, catching a glimpse of her despondent expression. To his agitation, he felt sorry for her again.

"I'm sorry. I thought girls were supposed to be excited about that sort of stuff," he said delicately.

"You'd think," Anna said sheepishly. "There's just been...some tension is all." She knew she was lying to him and herself, but she didn't entirely care.

"Ah. Well, I hope you figure it out."

"Me too," she said flatly.

The rest of the car ride was silent, other than the rain pelting against the windows. It was a comfortable silence. As he pulled into Elsa's driveway, Kristoff felt a bit apprehensive. He was starting to like this girl, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing—it was a new thing. Naturally, he hadn't taken the time to find a girlfriend because he enjoyed being on his own. But something about Anna made his skin run hot, leaving him with a slight uneasy feeling. The redhead gathered her things off the floor of his car, and hauled her purse over her slender shoulder.

"Thanks for the ride, I really appreciate it," she beamed.

"Sure, no problem." He anxiously watched as she opened the door, and before she stepped out his mouth began blurting, "Would you want to, ah, grab a coffee sometime?" His amber eyes hopeful. "I mean, uh, only if you want to. I don't want to be too forward or anything," he said, scratching the back of his head.

Anna stared at him for a second, her blue eyes regaining their long lost sparkle. She felt a little smile curve her lips and honestly answered, "I'd like that."

After exchanging numbers, Kristoff rolled out of her sister's driveway as Anna watched. When she reached the door, her little smile adjusted to a toothy grin. Once again, she forgot all about Hans and their seedy problems, and basked in the overwhelming brilliance of her joy.

* * *

Earlier that day, after the laundry was put in the dryer and the dishes were done, Elsa went out and grabbed the mail. Mixed around with bills and other kinds of assorted junk, Elsa stumbled upon a handwritten letter with the most lovely cursive scribbled along the top of the envelope. The name on the return address read: Ms. Abigail Beckett_._

At first she was slightly stunned, which then soon turned into confusion, curiosity and rage all with in the span of three minutes. She slowly set the pretty envelope on the table and pushed it away a little. Childish, yes, but her brain needed to do a bit of work. A slew of thoughts chugged through her mind; possible explanations. But not a one of 'em seemed to hit the money. After a long moment of staring down at the forlorn scripture, Elsa threw back her shoulders, sat up straight in her chair, and ripped that mother open.

Again, the note was all carefully handwritten in the beautiful cursive style and promptly read:

_Dearest Elsa and Anna,_

_How are you both doing? I understand that it has been quite some time since our last visit with each other, and the road has been plenty rocky in our relationship. However, I feel it is time to mend the broken pieces of our past and still remain on good terms with one another. I would be rather delighted to see you both at the annual Azalean Eves Ball next weekend on the 7th. It will be held at my home this year, here in Wilmetkah. Please do come. I miss and love you both to my heart's content. It would be simply wonderful to see your faces again._

_All my love,_

_Abigail__ Beckett_

Abigail had also been nice enough to include directions to her house on the back of the 'touching' letter. Elsa's immediate reaction was to crumple the damn thing up and throw it in the fire pit. It was enough to make her skin crawl. But to be fair, she decided to give the whole thing a second—and perhaps more rational—thought. Yes, indeed the letter was very endearing, if not sweet. But Elsa hadn't been on good terms with her mother for a long time. Ages. Honestly, the sudden pop-up of her presence really puzzled her.

Why would she want to see them after all this time? They hadn't talked in years and it's never really been on her list of "things she'd been meaning to get around to". Part of her felt a pang of sympathy for her mom. The divorce from their father had been a nasty one to put it mildly. Maybe she really _did _miss them and wanted to rekindle a relationship with her family. They _were_ her children after all. But another part of her, a much bigger part, kept reminiscing on the cold days Abigail showered upon them after the split with their dad. It seemed as though she had completely turned her back on the sisters, and the pain hadn't entirely subsided.

Elsa took another hard look at the frustrating message and shot it a last thought before scooping the pile of mail up under her arm and throwing it off to the side. Afterward, she couldn't help but get into an internal debate over whether to tell Anna or not...

She decided to throw that off to the side as well.

* * *

**A/N: Alrighty, so as far as first meetings go, pretty decent I hope? I wanted it to be a sort of timid thing, like real first meetings. And I really wanted to go somewhere with the relationship they have with their Mom to give the story a little more edge. (Also, it gives me an excuse to dress them up). Let me know what you guys think! And as always, thank you so much for reading and all your kind words. I appreciate them greatly, they really help a sister out. See you guize in the next chapter! -TheFlea**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this one took so long for me to get up on here. Life caught up with me. Anyways, I've got the chapter up and running! There's a lot of description and detail in this one, so I apologize if it happens to get boring. Hope you like it! Please review! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Elsa kept Anna busy all the next day. She dusted and vacuumed and mopped, and Anna scrubbed the bathrooms—since it was harder for Elsa to bend downward. The redhead emptied all the trash cans, and polished all the tables. She even wiped down the washer and dryer. Elsa urged Anna to get in the shower, since their company would be arriving within the hour.

Anna hustled her way clean and dried herself off. She took her time with her makeup, carefully coating each lash and filling her lips in with a soft pink lipstick. They were going out tonight to a place called The Arrowhead and from what Elsa told her, the dress code was more upscale. She brushed out her long copper hair and instead of throwing it back in her usual braids, she managed a half up hairdo. Delicate braids wrapped around the sides of her hair and met in the back, while the rest cascaded down and around her shoulders. Anna combed her bangs to the side with her fingers.

In consideration of the restaurant, Anna wore a dress. It was deep teal, sleeveless, and zipped up the back with a plunging neckline. Her father would have flung himself across the threshold to keep her from going out the door in this dress. She loved it. Since it was a little tighter and shorter than Elsa deemed proper on her younger sister, Anna paired it with opaque black tights. She fastened a beautiful white choker around her skinny neck, and hooked some matching teardrop earrings in. Snatching her shoes from her suitcase, she slipped her feet into three inched black heels. Elsa gave her an odd look, which she was at a loss to interpret.

"What'daya think?" Anna asked, turning around slowly.

"It's a little _too_ sexy, no?" Elsa inquired, giving her the up and down. She was in the midst of clasping on her pearl earring.

"Is it?" Anna looked down at herself. Okay, yes, she had some cleavage showing, and the skirt of the dress stopped about mid-thigh. But the tights underneath looked nice with it, and also provided some concealment.

Her sister shrugged and said, "Kinda, but you look great."

Elsa herself was in a black sleeveless turtle neck blouse and a gray knee length skirt that flared at the bottom. She accessorized with a string of pink pearls, and black strappy wedges. Her pale hair was in its long natural braid. Elsa looked damn good for being four months pregnant. Sometimes you weren't able to tell unless she turned to the side, showing off her little bump.

"You too," Anna replied with a smile.

"Thanks. I wasn't sure I could even fit into this damn skirt anymore. I feel like such a cow."

"Hey, watch it. That's my wife you're talking about." Jack emerged from their bedroom, straightening out the sleeves of his blazer. He waltzed over and kissed Elsa tenderly. Frost was looking mighty fine himself, Anna noted. He had on a black button-down shirt and slacks. The dark colors of his clothing made his white hair appear extra white. It practically glowed.

Just as the girls were finished getting ready, the doorbell chimed. Everyone greeted the couple with warm hugs and friendly kisses. Anna blew out a tiny sigh of relief when she saw her cousin wearing something similar to her—just without the tights. The group left soon after their arrival and made their way downtown. Dinner went wonderfully, and the food was amazing.

Even though she had her family around, Anna was still a wee bit somber. She hadn't heard from Hans in three days. No phone call, no apology—nothing. The tiny fraction of happiness Kristoff had given her yesterday evaporated sometime within the previous night. Despite the little butterflies in her stomach, she couldn't shake her bitterness. Not hearing from Hans sent her cheerful mood to the backseat.

Typically, Anna spent a reasonable amount of time thinking about her husband-to-be. (Maybe?). Whenever her mind would scrape up the idea of leaving him, she felt an unbearable pain in her heart. She sighed, deep and heavy. This was becoming to be a huge thorn in her side. Her eyes caught hold of her ring. Though it pained her to think it, she wondered if she should call off the wedding. Clearly, things didn't seem to be patching up between her and Hans. And the fact that he hasn't tried to reach her was infuriating. She thought he would have at least called once—just to check in. It had been their first bad cut, and God, did it hurt.

As she continued harping, her stubbornness kicked in. She wasn't going to be the first one to call him. She hadn't done anything wrong. Guess all she could do was sit around and rot in her misery.

"Asshole," she mumbled under her breath.

"You say something?" Elsa said.

Anna shook her head, her hair swishing against her shoulders. She excused herself and took a trip to the ladies. Anna could feel the tears start to prick at her again, and gently roll down her face. As she sat in a stall, she slowly felt her anger wash away with the tide. She took deep breaths, and periodically mopped away stray tears. Anna checked her makeup in the large mirror above the lovely double sinks. As she refreshed her lipstick, she stared back her reflection. Her beautiful blue eyes encased with pink. Her rosy cheeks hot and tear stained. "_Look at what he's doing to you. He's hurting you, Anna."_ It rang clear as a bell—that voice—and went echoing through her head.

She looked down at the ring again, but this time she didn't like what was looking back at her.

Anna felt like it was the only thing keeping her tied to Hans—the idea of marriage. But her pursuit of happiness with this man wasn't worth the pain. Engrossed in her sadness, Anna slipped the beautiful circle diamond off her finger and dropped it in her little clutch purse. As she existed the bathroom, Elsa was standing in the hallway. She had a wired look on her face.

"Rapunzel said there's this cool bar around the corner she wanted to check out," she said, her eyes wide with excitement.

"A bar?" Anna dropped her eyes to Elsa's belly with a cocked brow.

"I'm not going to be drinking, stupid. But it sounds like it'd be fun!"

Anna hesitated at first, but maybe hanging around a bar would help clear her thoughts of Hans. Or at least drown them out.

* * *

The Rabbit Hole was buzzing with people. There were collections of patrons scattered throughout the bar. A raucous crowd in the southwest corner had several tables drawn together to accommodate the size of the party. The serving area was pushed to the back of the large room and lit up with bright purple neon lights. Behind it was a long mirrored shelf chock full of liquor. To the left of the bar was a decent sized dance floor and even further left was a little stage for bands or deejays. On the right side of bar were small tables, almost all of them occupied. The walls were painted in dark burgundy and psychedelic pictures of the all Alice in Wonderland characters were strewn about, each of them placed in thick, elegantly carved black frames. Gorillaz's "Every Planet We Reach Is Dead" was booming over the speakers.

Naturally, Anna immediately checked out what the other women in the bar were wearing. Some of them were dressed to the nines—around her level. Others were either more casual, or caught in between. The bartender, a tall black-haired woman, shot Anna heated eyes. She was in the process of pouring someone a drink.

"_That was weird_."

In reflex, Anna grabbed hold of Elsa's hand as they picked through the crowds of people. A bone-thin waitress led the way to an empty table within view of the bright bar, and quickly took their order. Elsa got herself a seltzer, of course. The waitress inclined her head at Anna. "A stone sour, please," she said, neatly crossing her legs at the knee. The redhead fully scanned the place now that she had the time. Her eyes locked onto a blond man slowly shuffling his way across the bar. Anna recognized him right away, and suddenly felt a blossom of butterflies erupt in her stomach. A smile etched its way onto her face.

The thin waitress brought them their drinks just then, and they all clinked glasses. Anna loved stone sours. _"Like candy,"_ she thought happily to herself. Then, in the blink of an eye, she was out of her seat and weaving through the labyrinth of people. Somewhere along her journey, she was shoved by a flailing elbow and lost her footing somewhat. The heels didn't help catch her balance, either. Just as she was about to go toppling over, a strong hand grabbed hold of hers and yanked her upright.

"That was a close one," Kristoff said. His wide amber eyes were running up and down the length of her body like pinballs. A goofy smile plastered his face.

"Kristoff, hi," she exhaled, regaining her posture.

"You look beautiful," he said close to her ear, his warm breath fanning her neck.

Anna could feel the blush pinching her cheeks. "Thank you," she smiled. With her hand still in his, he guided her to a table near the opposite corner of the bar. For such a large man, he made maneuvering through body traffic look effortless. He was wearing a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a pair of dark blue jeans. His choppy hair was like a golden halo around his head.

"Didn't think I'd find you here," he said casually, finding his seat.

"Me either," she beamed.

"You here with someone?"

"My sister and our cousins," she pointed behind her shoulder.

Kristoff nodded, taking a slow swig of his pony-necked beer. Anna absently watched him as he swirled the liquid around in the bottle. All his movements where big, yet small at the same time. "What are you doing here?" she asked because she enjoyed listening to his rumbly voice.

"Had a late delivery," he said. "Sometimes I bounce if one of the regular guys aren't free." He took another gulp. Anna's eyebrows flew into her hairline, but then quickly clicked back into place. She could see that. Kristoff had a tenacity about him. "So, what are you all dressed up for?"

"We had a dinner thing before we came here. It was a fancier sort of place." And that it was. The people there were fabricated from wealth and power. The women with the wealthiest men were all extremely well groomed and expensively dressed.

She didn't even want to think about those numbers printed on the bill.

"Well, some might say you look very...delectable in that," he said sincerely, carefully picking out his words. She released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She didn't want him to think she looked slutty or easy.

"Thanks," she said, trying not to grin like an idiot. If they continued having these flirtatious episodes, her fiance would have a short shelf life. Well, shorter than what it was already turning out to be. Anna flipped her long tress over her freckled shoulders.

"Your hairs different." His fingers trailed through the length of her copper hair, and his knuckles brushed against her collarbone. Her breath hitched at the contact. "I like it," he said, his voice both genuine and husky. She leered at him.

By the time they ordered another round of drinks, Anna had been hunted down. Rapunzel came scurrying out of a group of hopping, whooping girls. "Anna!" she called, on the verge of getting trampled. The redhead zipped from her chair and plucked her cousin from the dancing mob.

"You okay?"

Rapunzel nodded, her short wavy hair bobbing with her. Her green eyes caught a glimpse of Kristoff from behind Anna, and a smirk graced her lips.

"Who's you friend?" she said.

"Oh, uh, this is Kristoff. He delivers Elsa her ice," she chirped, gesturing toward the blond man.

His eyes snapped up from his beer and he gently nodded at the brunette. "Nice to meet you," he called.

"Likewise." Rapunzel pulled Anna by the arm a little bit away from their table. "He's really cute," she whispered. "Are things okay with you and Hans?" She bit her tongue the moment the question rolled out of her mouth. The look on Anna's face wasn't a happy one as she fidgeted with the hem of her dress.

"Not really," Anna answered cheerless.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to rub a sore spot. I didn't know."

"I know, it's okay," she said, mustering up a small smile. "I'll meet you back at the table in a little while."

"Sure, sure. I'll send the message to Elsa."

Rapunzel gave her cousin a benevolent hug, then dissolved back into the crowd until she was out of sight. Anna sauntered back to her seat, and sucked down the rest of her drink. The alcohol made her feel better, and because she was with Kristoff, Hans eventually slipped from her mind again. The deejay, a tall black man with dreadlocks, began to play at the perfect level; you could be sure what the song was and still talk. He threw on a remixed version of Nancy Sinatra's "Shot You Down" and the place cooed in appreciation when the ample beat kicked in.

"Wanna dance?" Kristoff asked.

Anna hadn't expected that; but it would put her out of her murky mood. Plus she liked this guy, so she accepted. Kristoff held her chair, and took her hand as they traveled over to the modest dance floor. She was surprised to see Kristoff could dance; usually guys weren't too keen on "getting down". The nice thing about dancing is that you don't have to talk for awhile if you're feeling chatted out. The bad thing was that it made you hyperconsious of the other person's body. Being so close to Kristoff was comforting. She swayed in rhythm with him, and followed his every move.

Gradually, Anna found herself in a kind of trance. The alcohol was really taking hold. Her tolerance wasn't that high seeing as how Anna isn't that big a drinker. She felt great. And pretty. And fancyfree. When the song ended, she kept her eyes on her aching feet. As the deejay clicked on the next song, she shucked the heels and placed them under her seat at the table. "Faster Kill Pussycat", another fast piece of music, started up and without her shoes, Anna felt much more loose. They began dancing again, spinning and dipping together.

A roar of giggles released from Anna. This was as close to euphoria as she'd come in months.

Unfortunately, the ends of her evening wouldn't be so nice. In fact, everything from then on went to shit.

* * *

**Ahh, cliffhanger. Also, sorry about all the song cameos. I wanted to incorporate a lot of music into this chapter, what with it being in a bar and all. Next chapter is gonna be juicy, so stay tuned my friends! I'll try real hard to get it out soon asap. Thank you for reading! -TheFlea  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hello again. Coming at you guys with the next chapter, and I got it out pretty fast too! Snappy. Whoot whoot. So, this one gets more into the dramatics of the story, and things start to come together by falling apart. Please review and as always, thank you for reading :D **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It was a quarter to 9 and Hans was grabbing his car keys off the kitchen table. He hadn't bothered contacting Anna in their time apart. Actually, he felt much better now that she was temporarily out of his hair. Freshly showered, cologned and nicely dressed, Hans was on his way to The Rabbit Hole. Just as he pulled out of his subdivision, his cellphone began vibrating uncontrollably in his pocket. He answered casually, "Yeah."

"Where are you?" the voice on the other end said, slightly on edge.

"I'm on my way, whats up?" he said, matching the tone of the caller.

"Well, baby, looks like your little girlfriend's here. And she's getting awfully comfortable with a blond gentleman," Alice mused. She propped her feet up on the corner of her desk. Of course Alice never officially met Anna, she only knew who she was by sneaking through Hans' wallet one night after they had their fun.

"She's what?" he almost choked.

"You heard me," she said handsomely. "Can't say I blame her though. He's positively precious." Her words were sharp as knives, and Hans felt a shiver run down his spine. "Now listen. Since cupcake's here, obviously my corner is out of the question. Hows your place sound?"

"Wait, what? What do you mean she's with a guy? Who?" Hans' voice was fierce.

"Oh, please. Don't tell me you've just _now _started giving a shit about this girl," she scoffed, picking at her nail polish. "So we still on for tonight or what?"

Alice shook her curly black hair, her bracelets jingling as she did so. This evening she wore tight black leather pants and high heeled boots with her uniform. Dressing sexy on busier nights meant more tips.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'll be there in ten."

"That'a boy." She hung up the office phone with a smack of her gum. A quick fluff in the mirror and she was out the door, returning to the loud, bustling main room of the bar.

* * *

Anna was on her way back her sister's table. She said her goodbyes to Kristoff, and thanked him for the dance.

"Don't think this gets you off the hook. I'm still holding you to that coffee," he said playfully to her.

"I won't," she giggled, fastening her feet back into the tired heels. As she picked her way through the masses, Anna glanced back him. He had a smile on his face, and waved lightly to her.

"There you are," Elsa exclaimed, grabbing a hold of Anna's forearms.

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"Where were you?"

"Oh, uh, just...dancing," she answered giddily, chuckling.

"Dancing?"

Elsa peered past Anna's shoulder, but Kristoff had already migrated to his seat. With a questionable look in her eye, she dragged the red-haired girl back to their table. Anna spent the rest of the night with her sister and the others. Since her disappearance, Elsa made sure to keep close eyes on her. (Elsa also had a knack for over protection). The bar was still humming with life. People were both coming and going, so the place maintained an steady flow of patrons through the night.

From what she could remember when she first turned twenty one, the bar scene was a bit more exciting. Now at twenty three, it didn't have that same spin to it. Every once in awhile there'd be a minuscule break out of a fight, or someone (usually a drunk girl) squawking when a song they liked came on. But besides that, the place mellowed out considerably. Anna found herself feeling more drained with each minute that passed. She was more than ready to get out of this dress, into her pajamas, and hit the sheets.

That is until she saw a certain auburn headed male straggle into the bar.

Her heart sank and jolted simultaneously. She wanted rush over to him and throw herself into his arms and kiss him senseless. She wanted to give him an earful for acting like an ass and backhand him.

Instead, she sat shock-still, paralyzed by conflicting waves of emotion. Her large eyes followed after him. Hans sat at the flashy bar and frequently peeked at his phone, as if he were expecting something to pop out of it. Then, to her complete horror, the black-haired bartender came out from a hallway where the restrooms resided and linked hands with him. The two made like newborns and headed out the door—with a slight bounce to their step. It seemed as though they were in a hurry.

Anna stared into nothing for a long, long time. It was one of those moments where you try to recognize something as anything other than what it was. She felt like she'd been slapped in the face. Hard. Her bones were lead. At some point, she had to remind herself to breathe. The cold and sudden uncertainty she'd been submerged in was suffocating.

"Anna?" Elsa placed a gentle hand on her sister's shoulder. "Anna?"

But she couldn't respond. It was like someone jammed a fistful of cotton down her throat then sewed her mouth shut. She felt so constricted, and was well on her way to a full fledged meltdown.

"Anna?" Elsa said louder, slightly shaking her. "Anna, what is it?"

"H-Hans..." she whispered, because that's all she could manage.

"What?"

Anna slowly turned her heavy head to face Elsa. Tears were gushing from her eyes, "...Hans."

Elsa shot her eyes about the place, but hadn't found his face anywhere amongst the crowded room. She looked back to her sister and shook her head. "I don't see him anywhere."

There was something in Anna's eye as she starred at her, and Elsa had a feeling of horrid inevitability—like when you see your car begin to roll downhill and there's no way you can catch up with it. The car is gonna crash.

Deeply upset, Anna sprang from her seat like it was on fire. She beelined for the door and disregarded the worried cries of her sister. She hadn't really made a plan as to where she was going—she just needed to get out of there. Get away from the noise, because no matter how loud it had gotten, it wasn't enough to drown out her searing thoughts. Anna hailed an oncoming cab, and thanked her stars she put a few bucks in her clutch before they left the house.

While she sat in the back of the cab, she tried to overstep the messy scribbles rolling around in her brain and come up with a plan. Which proved to be a much bigger effort than she thought it was going to be. Her best bet of action was to go back to Elsa's and grab her car. So she did. Along with her suitcase. She shoved the luggage in the trunk with unnecessary force, and slammed the trunk closed.

She turned on the ignition and hunkered down with her hands firmly on the wheel—fuming. Now what?

Anna screeched out of her sister's driveway and headed toward her former place of residence. Emphasis on the word _former_. She was driving like a mad woman, weaving through traffic and speeding through yellow lights. Looking back at it, she was surprised she didn't get pulled over for reckless driving.

Rolling up to the dark house, Anna shut the car off. She mindlessly grabbed her little purse and trudged to the front door. Hans' shiny silver BMW was parked in the cobblestone driveway. She resisted the overwhelming temptation to take a few rocks from the front yard and catapult them through the windows. Since Hans worked at a law firm, naturally everything he owned was top notch—including his home. Luckily, she still had the keys to the front and back doors dangling from her key ring. Anna braced herself, then turned the knob and pushed open the bulky door. The black that met her view signaled to her all the lights in the house were off.

Except for one.

She heard a muffled moan come from the master bedroom at the end of the hallway, which was to her left. Even though she was enslaved to her acute anger, she stepped silently on the carpet and rushed toward the bedroom door. Anna flung it open so hard it bounced off the wall, but she didn't pay a bit of attention, because tangled on the bed were Hans and the bartender.

She was so appalled, so outraged, so distraught. They stopped what they were doing to stare at her from across the room, the ridiculous reprehensible looks were frozen on their faces. Anna seized the diamond ring from the purse and threw it at Hans as hard as she possible could.

"You fucking son of a bitch!"

"A-Anna," he said, scrambling to cover them with the sheets.

She spun on her heel and marched out of the house. She could hear Hans call after her, but she would rather drop dead than see his face. Beyond livid, Anna slid into her car, and slammed that door shut so strongly she felt the whole car rattle. She drove around heedlessly, drowning in her sorrow. She had no idea where she was going, or where she wanted to go. The only thing that registered was the excessive need to get away.

The pain was immediate, intense and relentless. It was as if she'd been kicked in the stomach repeatedly. Suddenly, Anna pulled over, simply incapable of driving any further. Her anger spread through her like poison and creeped into her bones. The redhead shut the car off with a jerk of her wrist, and slammed her hands on the steering wheel over and over.

She was irate when the tears came.

Sobs rippled down her shoulders and back—her heart had been smashed into dust. Anna deserved better than this. She's a good person, and should be entitled to some good things every once in a while. Right?

In a senseless haze, Anna emerged from her vehicle and began walking. The heels hurt her feet, and the air was damp, but she kept moving, momentarily oblivious to both these things. She must have been walking a long time, because when she came to, her car was nowhere around and she was passing by a liquor store that she knew had to be two or three miles from Hans'.

Absorbed in her sadness, she didn't sense the trouble standing behind her. Until it grabbed her by the arm.

A sandy-haired man—very drunk, very heavy, and very smelly—grabbed hold of Anna's arm. His fingertips were burrowing into her skin as she tried to pull away from him.

"Come over here and let's get to know each other, sweet thing," he said, grinning at her. The smell of his breath was indescribable, and he was missing a tooth or two. There were a few other guys standing a little ways behind him, all giving her the same disturbing look.

"N-No thank you," she said politely. She had a dreadful feeling that this wasn't going to be the end of it. For once, she wanted to be proved wrong.

"Sure you do darlin', come n' talk to us," he said insistently.

Anna barely had time to register the fear bubbling in her before the man jerked her over to the circle of men.

"No! No, let go of me!"

This wasn't a good time to start panicking. But then again, was there ever a good time?

The grip the man had on her grew tighter, and the fingertips she felt before were now fingernails, ripping and digging into her arm. Anna flailed and kicked to break free, but it was futile. She was so tiny, and they were all massive. However, with a bit of luck, she clipped Sandy in the jaw and he stumbled, easing up on his restraint.

Bad idea. She whirled to run as quickly as she could, and if she hadn't turned just then she would've taken the blow to the face instead of her back. It felt exactly like someone very big (obviously) punched a hole through her spine and into her body, completely sucking the air out of her lungs. She wasn't able to keep to her feet and landed on the ground—hard.

_"Goddamn heels._"

That was the last free thought she had. From then on, all she could think about was the hands on her and the pain they were exerting.

Her throat burned from screaming, and her legs were weak from kicking. She was shaking all over from the _extensive_ amount of pain and rage. Then, a sharp sting nicked her in the head near her eye, and she wished it'd knock her out so she wouldn't have to feel this suffering anymore. To her delight, her prayers were answered to some length, because the next thing she saw was a dog.

It was snapping and snarling, and all she could do was hope that it wasn't going to have her for leftovers.

The dog leaped out of her line of vision, and there was a lot of ruckus going on behind her. A lot of screams and the sounds of flesh ripping was the last thing she fathomed before slipping into a darkness so deep and total, she thought she was meeting death for the first and final time.

* * *

**Poor Anna. Just down on her luck and can't catch a break. But perhaps things will get better? Who knows. (Oh wait, I do). Thank you for reading!- TheFlea**


	8. Chapter 8

She opened her eyes with great reluctance. Normally it wasn't this hard for Anna to wake up. It felt like she'd been sleeping in a car seat for too long. She'd definitely dozed off somewhere uncomfortable. On top of feeling groggy, she ached all over. It was difficult to make out her surroundings. Her vision was very blurred—probably from all the crying. But from what she could tell, she was in a living room. There was a television set across from her and the few lamps in the room were on. A thick fleece blanket was draped over her body carefully.

She wondered what time it was.

Unbearably slow, Anna sat up. Her head throbbed like crazy, even with that tiny bit of movement. A dog was sitting on the floor a yard away, his black eyes fixed on her. His tail was wagging wildly behind him, and he barked in elation. She cringed and raised a hand to her grimy forehead. She felt like the last degree of nasty. As if she'd been dunked in a pool of garbage, and then rolled in dust. The strong desire to brush her teeth nagged at her. Anna looked down at herself and fizzled a sigh. Her dress was filthy and stained with little blood splotches. The black tights were torn at the knees. Her elbows were scathed, along with her legs.

While her eyesight cleared, she noticed how clean everything was.

She also noticed that she didn't recognize anything.

Anna was too afraid to make any further movement; suddenly recalling the dull ache in her back. She wanted to stand up, but the fear harboring in her bones strongly advised against it.

She was getting awfully tired of feeling scared.

It didn't seem like she was in danger but, with the night she had, one could never be too careful.

"You're up," said a familiar voice. "That's a relief."

Anna whipped around, and was relieved when the pain in her back wasn't severe. Kristoff plopped down in a chair from across the sofa. He was holding two mugs of something hot, and offered one to her. She took it with shaky hands.

"Kristoff?" There were so many question buzzing in her head. "H-how'd you find me?"

"You'll have to thank Sven for that. He sniffed you out on our way back," he said thoughtfully, enjoying his first sip.

"Sniffed me out?" Did he have super powers or something? Dogs have an excellent sense of smell, but not _that_ excellent. And depending on where they were coming from, it was highly unlikely that he could smell her from miles away. Her scent would have been mixed in with all the other smells of outside.

"We pass by that liquor store all the time on our way home. So when he started having a fit, I figured he must've been trying to tell me something," he said, taking another sip from his mug. "It's lucky we found you. You were pretty banged up."

Anna switched her eyes to Sven, and he was looking back at her respectfully. Everything came flooding back to her in a _whoosh_. Hans, his betrayal, her attackers, the dog, the noises.

She shuddered and whispered, "Thank you, Sven." She could've sworn she saw the dog nod back—as if to say "you're welcome".

"Those men. Are they...?"

Kristoff shrugged. Not very reassuring.

Anna was a mess.

She was confused.

She needed a shower.

With extreme caution, she pushed herself off the couch. Kristoff sprang to his feet to help her up. He handled her so delicately, as if she was going to break at any moment. Which from the looks of it, she just might. Her ankles felt like twigs beneath her weight, and she faltered. Leaning lightly against him, she couldn't help but notice how _warm _he was. A tiny part of her wanted curl up and stay there, but she forced herself in the another direction. Plus she didn't want to get him all dirty. Well, not in that way.

Anna briefly wondered what Kristoff would look like without a shirt on and covered in mud...

_"Other__ direction!"_

Feeling shy and a little more than nervous, Anna inquired him. "Is it okay if I use your bathroom? I could really use a shower," she admitted, embarrassed.

"Yeah, sure. It's this way."

Kristoff led Anna through the tidy apartment and opened a door to the right, inside the narrow hallway. At the last second she realized she didn't have anything with her to change into. All she had was what she was wearing—which was a mess all on it's own. Rather reluctantly, she asked if he had any spare clothes she could borrow, minus the underthings. He'd expected that. Without comment, Kristoff ducked into his bedroom across the hall and came back with a plain T-shirt and some navy drawstring pants.

Before they departed, Anna turned her back and softly asked "Could you get my zipper started for me?"

Now, that he wasn't expecting.

Last night, Anna enlisted her sister to help her out when she was getting dressed. And she was thankful she thought of this before he vanished into another room. It would've been a pain in the ass to try and fiddle with it.

Kristoff's face flooded with color for a second, but he accepted. She could feel his timid fingers on her back, and heard the tiny hiss of the zipper. As more of her freckled skin was exposed, his amber eyes settled on the dark bruise concentrated along her backbone. Abstracted, Kristoff gently brushed the area with the back of his fingers. Anna froze in reflex.

"S-sorry. Sorry," he stuttered, snatching his hands away.

"Its okay. It didn't hurt," she flushed. "Thank you for helping me." And she meant it on all levels.

He cleared his throat. "You're welcome."

There was a short moment where Anna could sense he wanted to kiss her, but wasn't entirely sure how she'd take it. And if she was being honest with herself, she was as clueless as him. Yes, she was a single woman now. But with that fact came a lot of burden. Like finding a place to live. And figuring out how to get her things from Hans'. She didn't think she had the stomach to look him in the face. Ever.

She had some food for thought, but she'd have to mull all that over later.

The bathroom was pretty basic. A toilet, a sink, and the shower installed above the bathtub. But it was spotless, and there were white fluffy towels just waiting to be used. Anna felt immediate release the second the hot water hit her. It was the best shower she'd ever had. She had to move slowly and carefully. Standing beneath the stream of water, she found she was still pretty shaken up.

Suddenly, the image of Hans and that woman together flashed behind her eyelids, and sent her flying back into her grief. It seemed as though her life was unraveling faster than she could keep up. Anna slid down the wall to the floor of the bathtub, sobbing along the way. As the water drummed against her sore skin, she lost herself in her thoughts. It was a long time before she picked herself up and crawled out of her despair.

Her next challenge was figuring out how to get into the clothes Kristoff gave her. She was appreciative of the loose fit in the pieces—nothing tight or constricting she'd have to struggle into. The shirt and pants swallowed her. Fortunately, the drawstring in the pants was long enough to keep a firm hold on her hips without the risk of dropping.

Anna grabbed the large brush resting on the sink and began to work through the tangles—making sure to clean it out afterwards. As she weaved her hair into braids, she was in awe over how neat he was. That seemed like a rare something to come by in men. Or at least in the ones she'd met. This raised him in her estimation. And, to be honest, he was too high in her estimations already. She reminded herself to stay alert for something unfavorable in the man.

The red-haired girl stepped out of the bathroom, dirty laundry in hand.

"Mind if I wash these?" she asked feebly.

"Not at all. The laundry rooms the second door on your right," Kristoff replied, in the midst of tuning an acoustic guitar.

_"Okay, this is getting out of hand. He plays the guitar too?"_

Anna sulked her way to the laundry room, chucking the soiled clothing in and dispensing just the right amount of soap. Afterwards, she found herself back in the living room, and perched on the couch opposite of Kristoff. The long sectional was upholstered in a dark brown leather, along with the chair across the way.

"So, now what?" he said, setting the acoustic back on it's little stand.

"Now what," she repeated. She had no idea. "I need to get my car. Hopefully it hasn't been broken into."

"Where's your car?"

"I'm not sure. Somewhere between the liquor store and—" she stopped, physically incapable of muttering his name past her lips. "Somewhere," she said instead.

"Well, we can go look for it tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow? What time is it?"

"A little bit after three," he said briefly.

"In the morning?" Anna couldn't help the surprise in her voice.

"Yeah."

"Oh, I'm sorry for keeping you up. You must be tired," she said, feeling the sleepiness crawl around behind her own eyes.

"Nah, not really," he answered casually. "But if you are we can call it a night."

Anna pondered that. She had to take some time to build a game plan. A heap of loose ends were in need of tying, including contacting Elsa and informing her on her whereabouts. She must be worried sick. Anna felt awful for all of ten minutes. There were more pressing matters on her hands at the moment—Elsa would just have to wait a little longer before hearing from her. After what felt like years, Anna started to piece something together. Finding her car was presently the most crucial thing on her list. Then there was the question of where she'd be going.

She could stay with her sister, but something put her off to that idea. Elsa had enough on her plate already, what with the baby coming and all. Anna was sure she didn't need someone else mooching off her. But looking at the grand scheme of things, that seemed to be her only option until she could find a place of her own. At that moment, Anna hated herself for closing the lease on her apartment.

But then again, she hadn't thought that that was going to be an issue.

"You know, if its any consolation, you can stay here for as long as you need to," Kristoff said, sincerity in his voice. "I know what it's like to be forced out on your own."

Anna blinked at him. Was she talking in her sleep? Did she mumble something just now?

"How did you—"

"I can take a hint. Besides, that ring isn't on your finger anymore," he stated, doing that jerking thing with his eyes again.

She looked down at her bare hand. Okay, that was true. But wouldn't he just as easily have thought she'd taken it off before hopping into the shower? Maybe she could peg his observance, in some cases, as a negative quality. The smug look on his face made her nose crinkle. She resisted an urge to stick her tongue out at him.

"Yeah, so?" she said crossing her arms.

"Girls don't take off engagement rings unless that engagement itself is off."

"You don't know that," she retorted, less than fond of his complacence.

"Okay, then tell me. Why would she take it off, and then keep it off?"

"I-I don't know," she stammered. "Probably because her finger got sweaty." Anna made a "Duh!" gesture with her hands.

"Did _your_ finger get sweaty?"

She could sense the mockery behind his words.

"No!" she objected. If things could have gone her way, she would have never taken that beautiful ring off. But, evidently, "things" hadn't really agreed with her on what was acceptable in her life. When he felt the quality of Anna's silence, Kristoff apologized.

"I'm sorry," he said. To his knowledge, that was the fourth time he feeling sorry around her. "Obviously the guy's a moron for losing you. However it happened."

Anna couldn't help but smile at him. "I don't know about that," she laughed. "But, the word 'moron' sounds about right. Actually, it's a more of an understatement." _"The same goes to that black-haired bitch, too."_ She almost scolded herself for being so cruel, but changed her mind after sitting with the thought of what That Bitch did to her relationship with "he who shall not be named".

Steering herself back in the direction of her living situation, she calmly answered, "I wouldn't feel right about that. I don't want to disturb your life with my mess. That's something I have to clean up myself."

"You wouldn't be disturbing me. If anything, it'd probably be more interesting having you around," he said with a little smile on his lips. Again, Anna felt another spell of butterflies burst in her stomach. "Not that living on my own is bad. It just gets boring sometimes."

"Ah," she smiled back.

She wasn't buying it.

Anna definitely noticed a loneliness about the man sitting across from her. Her heart went out to him. He certainly didn't seem like someone who people wouldn't want to be around. She herself enjoyed being in his company way more than she was willing to admit. Winding up at his home after being knocked unconscious didn't feel as uncomfortable as it should have been. She made another mental note of just _how_ comfortable she felt around Kristoff.

She felt like she could trust him. And her trust had taken a beating.

Since it was clear she was staying the night here (or the rest of the morning, rather) it was necessary that she set up a bed before passing out somewhere—like the floor. Probably not the best idea with an achy back.

"So, where should I set up camp?"

"You can take the bedroom if you want," he suggested. "I don't mind sleeping on the couch."

"Oh, no! I can't kick you out of your bed. I was just wondering if you have a spare bedroom handy. No, I'll take the couch," she insisted, wrapping herself up in the abandoned fleece blanket.

"It's fine, really," he chuckled. "Besides, you're all...beat up." He said those last words lightly, understanding the weight behind them.

"No, Kristoff, I couldn't. I'd feel bad about it all night."

"There's nothing to feel bad about. Now hand over that blanket," he demanded, reaching out.

"No," she protested, clinging it to her tighter.

"Are you really going to make me fight you for it?"

"Is that a threat? Because I'll take you down." She was sticking to her guns.

"Will you now?" he mocked. He could lift her off the ground with his pinkie finger, she was so little. The idea of her pinning him in a tackle made his chest rumble with laughter. Anna pouted in response, hoping he'd take the bait. She even threw in a pair of puppy dog eyes.

"Nah, that face won't work on me, sister. No matter how cute it is."

She smiled at him again, her cheeks hot. Boy, did he know how give a girl the warm fuzzies. In her defeat, she unwound the blanket from her shoulders and handed it to Kristoff.

After they said goodnight, Anna threw her arms around him. He'd done so much for her in the last six hours. She felt she needed to repay him in some way, and while this was a trivial fee, maybe she'd think of something better to give him down the road.

Kristoff's arms circled the girl's waist after a second's hesitation, and he instinctively pulled her a little closer, his hand creeping up and resting on her upper back. A long while afterwards, they departed.

When she finally crawled into Kristoff's soft bed and snuggled under the covers, Anna wished he was lying beside her—holding her. Caressing her. Kissing her?

Regretfully, Anna swatted the idea away. Her emotional palette was already in overdrive. And building the foundation for a new relationship when she was fresh out of an engagement was just too much to handle right now. Regardless of how much she liked him. She sighed.

Once again, Anna found herself in deeper waters than she could swim in.

* * *

**A/N: Sooo, you guys totally guessed it! You clever duckies. Of course Kristoff came to the rescue. I'll get more into the explanation of his side in the next chapter. Thank you so much for reading. And all your kind words. I'm so happy you guys are liking this. Till next time! -TheFlea**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey guys. This one took me forever to write. I definitely bumped into a block here and there. But, alas, I made it out alive! Cool. Anyway, here's ze next chapter. Hope you like it! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Anna woke up slowly the next morning. As she laid nuzzled under the covers, stretching every now and then, she indulged in the scent of Kristoff's linens. The pillows and sheets smelled like him; Gain detergent, Irish Spring soap, and man. She cuddled a pillow into her chest—smiling in her sleep. When the redhead fully came to, she remembered all the surrealistic happenings of the night before and wrinkled her freckled nose in distaste.

The apartment was silent, so she figured Kristoff must've still been sleeping. With quiet feet, Anna crossed the hall into the bathroom. She quickly took care of the necessities and came out feeling happy as a clam. A digital clock resting on his nightstand told her it was about a quarter pass noon.

Because Kristoff hadn't waken yet, she decided now would be a good time to devise a course of action. She really needed to get her car back. Who knows what happened to it during the night. And for the life of her, she couldn't remember where she parked the damn thing.

With high hopes of fueling her brain power, Anna went searching for coffee. She found the filters in a cabinet next to the refrigerator, along with the sugar dispenser.

She made sure to leave more than enough in the pot for Kristoff.

After downing a cup or two, Anna wandered back down the hall towards Kristoff's room. Since she was staying in someone else's home, her aim was to prove to be a responsible house guest and clean up after herself. Especially since the rest of his house was so organized and put together. But as she went down the hallway, she heard small movement. Anna pushed open the door to the bedroom gently, not wanting to make a big load of noise in case he wasn't up yet.

Oh, but he was.

Kristoff was pulling on his jeans, with his back turned to her. Oddly enough, he hadn't bothered with underwear that day. Anna's breath caught in her throat, and she made a tiny sound from behind him. She forced her eyes shut, and felt her little hands ball into fists. If there was such a thing as a "Most Amazing Butt" competition, Kristoff would win, hands down—or cheeks up, whichever you prefer. Naturally, atop that, he was shirtless. The man was nothing but pecs and abs.

Up until this moment, Anna hadn't realized she could have trouble keeping her hands off a man. But here she was, digging her fingernails into her palms, and staring at the inside of her eyelids. Maybe if she looked hard enough, she'd be able to see through them. It seemed somewhat...disconcerting to crave someone so willingly just because they were physically beautiful. As Anna stood there with her eyes shut tight, Kristoff finished zipping up his pants.

"Anna, you okay?" Kristoff asked. Anna swam her way back to sanity through a sea of lust. When she opened her eyes, he was standing in front of her, his hands on her shoulders. She glanced up into his dark eyes. They were fixed on her, apparently full of concern. His chest was so broad, along with his shoulders and arms. She did her best to keep her knees from shaking.

"_You will NOT lean over those few inches..." _she warned. "I-I'm sorry," she said, and her voice came out all tiny and shaky. She didn't look up at him again, because if she did, she might see a tiny impulse, some inclination on his face, and that's all it would take. She was too scared to move. Her body was begging her to knock Kristoff back on his bed so she could have her way with him. _Right. Now.__  
_

She bit the inside of her lip.

"I didn't mean to, uh, walk in on you. I-I should have knocked."

Kristoff smirked at her bashfulness. "I don't mind," he said, cool and smoothly.

_"Of course you don't," _she thought to herself.

"I wanted to make up your bed, I didn't know you were in here, sorry," she said.

"Hey, it's okay. It's my fault, I left the door open. I forgot there was another person here," he said scratching his neck. "You wanted to make my bed?"

Anna cracked open her eyes, and he was looking at her with a cocked brow.

"Oh, yeah. Well, I just thought I'd make it for you since you let me sleep in it last night. Thank you for that, by the way." Anna began fiddling with her braids.

"Don't mention it. Did you sleep good?"

"Mhmm," she nodded, recalling that wonderful smell, which made her want him all over again. "What time do you think we should go get my car?" she asked_, _dragging herself out of her hunger. "I can make us something to eat before we go. It's the least I could do."

Anna shot away from his hands like a bottle rocket. _"Either get out of his proximity, or jump his bones."_

"Yeah sure, we can grab some breakfast at Artie's. It's a diner not that far from here. It's kinda old, but they've got great food," he suggested. "After that, we can go get your car."

"Great! I just have to make a quick phone call."

And with that, Anna zipped out of his bedroom. She thought every muscle in her body turned to Jell-O. There were many worries waiting for her that day, but thanks to Kristoff, for a few precious minutes she' forgotten them.

Anna picked up the cordless receiver in the kitchen and dialed Elsa's number.

"Hello?" she said, weary.

"Elsa, hey it's me."

"Oh my god, Anna! Where the fuck have you been? I've tried getting a hold of you, like, a hundred times. I'm freaking out over here! Which is a shitty thing do to a pregnant woman, Anna. Shitty."

"I know, I-I'm sorry. Things sort of got out of hand last night. I'm sorry I didn't call sooner."

"What happened? Where are you?"

"It's a long story, trust me."

"Where are you Anna?" she repeated.

"I'm...at a friend's. They were nice enough to let me stay with them."

And that fact rang bright and clear like a bell. She really needed to repay Kristoff for all his unforeseen kindness.

"What friend?" Elsa hissed.

"Kristoff Bjorgman."

"And who is that?" she spat.

"He's the guy who delivers your ice," she said, her temper rising fast.

"The _ice_ guy? How do you two even know each other?"

"We met in town a few days ago."

"Jesus, Anna! How naive are you? You _stayed_ at the guy's house? You just met him!" she barked.

"I didn't _just _meet him. And it's not like that. I woke up here," she said hesitantly.

"You woke up there?! What the hell happened to you? Why aren't you at home with Hans?"

The question stung like the six shades of hell. Anna could take a lot of paternalism, but she was about up to her ears.

"Because I caught him in bed with another woman, Elsa."

That threw water on the fire right away. Her sister was silent on the other end, not sure what to say. So in turn, Anna explained her awful night. The knife sinking into her back (not literally, but hell, it _felt_ literal), the group of men behind the liquor store, what they did to her, Sven, etc. Elsa remained speechless.

She realized none of this would've happened if she hadn't seen Hans in that bar last night. Every time she forgot for a second how radically their relationship had changed, it hurt all over again to be reminded.

"Which brings me to the reason why I called. I need to ask you a favor, sis."

"Uh, sure, whatever you need," Elsa said, as if she'd been snapped out of hypnosis.

"I need you to get my things from Hans'. I only have clothes and stuff like that there," (Thank God). "I don't think I can go and do it myself. It would just...hurt too much." Anna sounded so deflated.

"Oh. Ah, okay, I'll bring them back here then."

"Thank you. I'll be there in a few hours."

"Are you at least safe Anna?" Elsa's voiced switched over from acrimony to concern.

Just then Kristoff came in and propped himself against the wall by the doorway, and he took up an awful lot of it. Anna glanced over at him and with a smile answered, "As safe as I'll ever be."

She heard Elsa reverberate a sigh, and exasperated, she replied, "Okay, Anna. I trust you."

"Thanks Elsa. Don't worry about me. I'm just fine," she lied. But she wasn't going to get into all the turmoil she was dealing with internally. Not with Kristoff in the room.

Perched in a straight-back chair at the smallish kitchen table, Anna hung up the phone. She looked oddly at home there. Her large eyes looked over at the man less than a yard away, and a slight pout formed her on lips. He had a T-shirt on now. But to her delight, it was a little on the tighter side, in a midnight blue color. Once again, she found herself briefly absorbed in how lovely he was.

"Your sister I'm assuming?"

"Gee, how'd you know," she said playfully with wide eyes.

"Lucky guess," he shrugged in return. "You ready?"

"Uh-huh."

Anna glanced down at herself. She was still draped in Kristoff's baggy clothes, but there was nothing she could do about that. Her own clothes were being held hostage in the trunk of her missing car, as well as a few drawers and a closet at Hans'. Along the way, she spectated her bare feet.

She was also out of another pair of shoes. A more functional pair.

The only ones she had were those damn heels. Something about running around in formal footwear hadn't particularly tickled her fancy. _"Well, shit."_

"Good. Hopefully everything works out," he said.

After her conversation with Elsa and her current shoe dilemma, Anna had been tuning up to be aggravated, but his last sentence was so realistic that the hot air went out of her as if she'd been punctured. The complexity of her anxiety was turning out to be a lot heavier than she anticipated. After all, her plan was quite thin, and she still had no clue as to where she would end up tonight.

Anna trudged back into the laundry room at the rear of the apartment, and next to her clean, folded clothes, were the little, black pointy-toed heels. Biting the bullet, she clicked them onto her feet. On the bright side, since she was several inches taller now, the bottoms of the pants didn't brush against the floor that much anymore.

For the millionth time, Anna cursed her irrational outbreak at Hans' infidelity, and for abandoning her car. She felt like an idiot. Which is funny, considering it seemed like such a good idea at the time.

* * *

Their destination was a small place on the corner of North and Oaken. It didn't look that impressive, but it was quiet and definitely gave off an inviting feeling. And the food was really good, just like Kristoff said. _"He must come here a lot,"_ she said to herself, sipping delicately on her coffee. All the waitresses knew Kristoff, and some came by the table to say hello and find out who Anna was. Since he was on his own a lot of the time, it was almost astonishing to see him with someone. And a girl, no less.

A couple of the female waiters had little frowns embedded onto their faces to see him out with Anna, which was marginally unsettling.

But the freckled girl minded her manners, both table and social, and concentrated on not speaking unless she was spoken to. While she was enjoying herself, she didn't want to cause Kristoff any embarrassment, since she was entering his life so briefly.

"So, what exactly happened last night?" Anna asked Kristoff with interested eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what happened after I blacked-out?"

Kristoff's face twitched in discomfort, but he felt she had a right to know. He took a deep breath, trying to decide where to begin. And then he told her, very slowly.

"Well, when we got to you those guys were...are you sure you wanna hear about this? You might be better off unaware," Kristoff's voice went deadpan.

"I'm sure," she nodded, guiding a forkful of egg into her mouth.

"Alright. Well, so when got there the guys were starting to really, ah, go at it. I saw one of them grab you by the hair, and another one was pulling up your dress."

It was Anna's turn to take a deep breath. She felt the blood drain from her face. She hadn't known she was _that_ close to getting raped—and then who knows what. But the copper-haired girl did her best to appear easygoing. Her intentions were not to scare him off the topic.

"So, I sent Sven on that guy first. And then I dealt with the others."

"Meaning?"

"I fought them. After Sven got a hold of the one guy messing around with your clothes, though, the others kinda backed off a little bit. But the fat one was really aggressive. And he smelled like shit."

_"Ah, Mr. Sandy,"_ she called to mind.

Anna nodded, keeping her eyes downcast. Kristoff could sense the tension building in her, but she encouraged him to continue. Though it was painful to hear, she was scorching with curiosity. The gaping hole in her memory was agitating—to put it lightly. And after hearing about it all, she relaxed. It was like ripping off an Ace bandage that'd been wrapped too tight.

"So I, ah, took care of him the best I could," he said, clearing his throat. "The others didn't really bother with fighting me after that." He paused and took a gulp of his coffee. "Then I scooped you up and took you back to my place. I wasn't sure if I should take you to the hospital or not. You were roughed up and bruised, but there was nothing critical to attend to. Plus, I know how much hospital bills can be. If there isn't a need to be in one, it's better to avoid them all together."

Suddenly, Kristoff felt Anna's small hand cup his, and gently rub his cracked knuckles. "You saved my life...thank you Kristoff," Anna whispered, tears beginning to flood her eyes. She was deeply indebted to him, and now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure she'd ever be able pay him back. A life is difficult to measure up to in equality when exchanged for something in return. Kristoff set his other hand lightly atop hers and looked her in the eye.

"It was my pleasure," he smiled. "I'm sorry I hadn't found you sooner."

"The fact that you found me period is more than enough. Thank you so much..." her voiced faded.

All of a sudden, Anna had the vigorous urge to lean over and kiss him.

Just then the waitress came and dropped off the bill. Kristoff snatched it before Anna had a chance to look at it. She felt lousy for not having her wallet with her. She'd left it in her purse which—surprise, surprise—was in her car. The desire to find it and get a hold of her things was at a maximum now.

The two strolled out of the diner and climbed up into Kristoff's truck. Then, to Anna's slight agony, they made their way towards Hans'.

Traffic wasn't that bad for a Thursday afternoon. In fact, they seemed to move so quickly, she wondered if that was intentional. If somehow the gods were lining up to shoot and she just happened to have a target already on her head.

As they drove by the creepily ominous liquor store, Anna caught a glimpse of a street sign reading Wesleton. She faintly remembered that from the night before during her little starlight stroll. As they puttered down the road, she barely recognized the spot she parked in. There was a shallow wall of forest across the street from a row of modest homes and an internal buzzer went off in her head.

"Here," she chirped. "I remember this. I think I parked somewhere around here."

Kristoff slowed the car down to a coast. But as Anna searched the strip of street, there was no car to be seen. _"Of course!" _she slapped a hand to her forehead in vexation. "It's not here," she said flatly.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. It would've been right there." Anna pointed across the way to a spot next to a small clearing in the thin vegetation lining the street. "Which means it's at an impound lot somewhere," she sighed.

Kristoff chuckled, and pulled back out onto the street. Taking a hold of Anna's hand, he hung a left and said, "Well, I guess that's something we have to look forward to."

Anna snickered at his statement, but didn't pull her hand away.

* * *

**A/N: Niiice, get to see a little sneak peek of Kristoff's manlyness-ness. Mm, yes. **

**Also, I changed the day in the first chapter to Tuesday, because y'know, continuity. (Duh!)**

**I'll try to get the next chapter out soon. Lemme know what you all think so far! And as always, thank you so much for reading! -TheFlea**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey friends! Soo, I totally hit a road block with this chapter. It's funny how you think you know where you're going with things, when really you have no idea lol. Sorry this one's so short. We'll try to make the next one longer. Hopefully I'll know what I'm doing, too :P Anyway! Thank you all so much for reading, and all your lovely comments. I'm delighted to keep my fellow fanfic readers happy!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

There were moments during the drive over to the nearest impound lot when Anna questioned her relationship with Kristoff. His large hand was wrapped delicately around hers, and his thumb would brush against it occasionally. She really liked him. He was caring, and strong, and beautiful in a tousled sort of way. But she couldn't help her thickening suspicions.

What if he turned out to be another Hans?

She'd been so burned after her failed engagement, she wondered if she'd ever feel comfortable even dating again. And what she felt around Kristoff was troublesome to interpret. It was as if she was a woman frozen on a ledge of building that was going up in flames. Too afraid to jump into the presumable safety net that this new relationship advertised, yet desperate enough to get away from the one she had with Hans. Contrary to all of that, Anna definitely harbored some warm feelings towards the man sitting behind the wheel.

They say not every man is the same as the last, however, she wasn't sure she was ready to crack open a new can of worms.

_"I left Hans," _she reminded herself proudly. _"I'm a free woman now. I can do whatever I want." _Even though Anna was certainly interested in starting something with Kristoff, she felt guilty. Guilty of jumping blindly into something that needed more time to develop. She learned over the past few months that you couldn't really know someone that quickly. That learning a person's true character might take years. And it had shaken her profoundly, since she thought she had the ability to figure people out rather swiftly.

Anna was, indeed, quite naive.

After awhile her brain began to rattle, so she stuffed her concerns in the back of her mind—along with her feelings.

They pair up to a drab cement structure wedged between two small office buildings on the outskirts of downtown Arendelle. "Arendelle Towing" was written on a large street sign at the corner of the lot in bold green letters. Several tow trucks were parked in a broken parking lot behind a chainlink fence to the left of the facility, and across from them were the confiscated cars. Anna quickly scanned the rows for her little white Civic, and found it nudged at the end of the second row.

Kristoff parked alongside the curb parallel to the building, and they both dropped down from their seats. An green awning stretched over the deserted length of sidewalk in front of the main entrance, and the area directly under it was lit with a bright and cold light. Since it was the middle of the day, the light seemed unnecessary.

A fidgety man was standing outside the front door, puffing on a cigarette. He was short and round, and his gut flopped over the top of his pants. As the two slowly approached, Anna could sense something in the air. Something unwelcome. Instinctively, she looped her arm through Kristoff's, and clung to his bicep. The strong muscles beneath his skin rippled, which made her feel more at ease. If there was a tussle afoot, at least she was armed with a powerful man.

"We're closed," the man called before they reached the door.

"Closed? But it's...what time is it?" she asked Kristoff.

He fished his phone out of his pocket and answered, "2:25."

"It's not even 3 yet! How you can you be closed?"

"Because I said we are," the man said coldly. "You can come back tomorrow. Now scram."

Once they got closer, Anna could make out his features a bit more. He had dull black hair clipped close to an oblong head, a thick, dirty mustache, and some odd indentations along his upper cheeks. When he talked, you could see brown gunk caked on his gums and creased between his teeth._ "Yuck."_

There was an obvious anstyness about him. He was shivering and shaking all over. And seeing as how it was the middle of June, his behavior was exceedingly odd. No one should be that chilled on day as warm as this. He looked as though he was waiting for someone—or something. Anna peered up at Kristoff, his dark eyes signalling something toward her, a silent question asking: "What do you wanna do?"

She huffed a sigh, and shifted on her strained feet. The heels were beyond bothersome.

Stealing a quick glance back at the white car tucked on the other side of the parking lot, an ache for her possessions flared again.

"Um, is there anyway I could at least get my things out of the trunk? I can pay you," she reasoned.

"Jesus, did you hear me lady? Get lost!" he barked, staggering a couple inches closer to Anna.

Trying hard not to flinch, she took a step back and tightened her grip on Kristoff's arm. She had the anxious-y feeling that usually precedes walking into danger. But as she continued to lightly argue with the little man, she felt a detached sort of determination. As if she were drunk, and been robbed of all her more ordinary emotions.

"Listen, I already fuckin' told you, WE'RE CLOSED. And I suggest you keep this _woman_ under control," he scolded, pointing at her.

Then Kristoff made a noise. The sound came from deep within his chest, and it's concave rumble penetrated the tiny corners of their vicinity.

"Oh, tough guy, ah?" he said to Kristoff with looney eyes. "Fuck off, Goldilocks."

In a blur of movement that couldn't be broken down into increments, Kristoff socked the heavyset man right between the eyes. Anna yelped as the short man's head rocked and sent him fumbling backward. He immediately sent his fat fingers up to his nose.

"Motherfucker!" he hollered. The man doubled over, wiping the wet blood leaking from his nostrils. "You fucking broke my nose, you son of—"

But before he could finish his screaming, Kristoff's big hand was yanking him upwards by the collar. There was a lethal glint in his amber eyes, and a shiver raced down Mr. Barbaric's spine. Kristoff managed to knock him through a loop so thoroughly that he somehow let go of his bad manners. His crazy eyes lost their luster as he cowarded away.

"Fine, fine! You can go get your shit, just make it fast!" he snipped. Kristoff shoved him towards the front door, and the man then proceeded to mumble a thread of comments under his breath.

Well, that was easy.

Anna regarded Kristoff again, a teensy sneer sweeping her face. For a brief minute, she realized how handy being around him had been. The aching man wobbled past the main doors and guided them back through the concrete building. The inside was just as boring and bland as the outside. A tiny waiting room with glaring florescent lights assembled the front end of the place, while the back consisted of three or four small offices. Just behind the "Employees Only" entrance, they made a pit stop at a large cork board covered in car keys. The keys had different colored tags attached to their rings.

"Model?"

"Oh, ah, 2008 Honda Civic. It's white."

The man plucked a set from the board, and continued down a narrow corridor that led out the back end of the building, into the parking lot.

Handing her the keys, Anna weaved through the mass of towed cars with haste. She snatched her purse from the car floor, then popped open the trunk. As soon as she touched the rubber handle of her suitcase she sputtered a breath of relief. At last, there was another pair of shoes accessible to her now. On an excited whim, she flipped open the lid of the case and poked around for her flats. Once she had them in her hand, she immediately changed out of the heels. She could almost cry from the alleviation in her lower limbs.

Anna floundered her way back to the others, practically skipping. But her good feelings would have to take a backseat, because once she reached the two men standing at the back door, her cheerfulness died. They were both staring at her with fierce expressions—their faces creased with sharp lines. After retrieving the wallet from her purse, Anna handed the man thirty-five bucks.

"More," he said, wiggling his fingers. Anna blinked at him. "Come on, cupcake, I don't have all day."

She jolted and pulled out another five. His oddball eyes considered the bill, and he nodded.

"I'll be back tomorrow. I can give the rest to whom ever I talk to," she told him deliberately.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now, take a hike, would'ya," he said, fingering through the bills.

"Don't have to tell me twice," she muttered under her breath.

As she spun on her heel, Anna clutched onto Kristoff's bicep again, and jerked him in her direction. The two strolled out of the fenced in parking lot towards his truck.

"_That_ was pretty weird," Anna said.

"Jag-off," Kristoff replied, glancing over his shoulder.

"You did get him pretty good," she snickered. "And is it just me, or did it seem like he was waiting for someone?"

"Yeah, his drug dealer."

"What makes you say that?" she asked, slightly stupefied.

"You saw the marks on his face? And that shit between his teeth? Those things don't just magically appear."

"Mm," she nodded. "I figured as much. He was shivering, too."

"It's probably been a while since he's had his fix," Kristoff said, opening the door for her.

Anna thanked him kindly and set her suitcase down in the tiny backseat of the pickup. Then she hoisted herself up into the vehicle and rummaged through her purse for her cellphone. Naturally, there were plenty of heated messages and voice mails from Elsa. She took her time to read and listen to each one, deleting them as she went along. The last message she sent was from earlier that day.

_"Hey. Can't make it to Hans', forgot we had class tonight. I can get there early tomorrow. Need to get some boxes. Love you, be safe."_

Elsa and Jack had signed up for prenatal classes at the beginning of the month. They'd been to four of them so far, and from what Elsa has shared with Anna, they were very helpful and "fucking terrifying". Though Elsa's shoulders were heavily weighed down with the apprehension of her child, her sister was confident she'd make a good mother. She had strong qualities of motherhood in her, and was always on the alert with Anna—even when they were kids.

She could tell without a doubt Jack was ready to be a father. You could see it in his eyes—that brilliant spark of excitement and happiness.

"I've gotta pick up some dog food for Sven. You got anywhere you need to be?"

The question momentarily broke her train of thought. After a quick mental run-though, she decided she didn't. Plus, she had functional shoes on for running around, so she agreed to go with him. While they were there, they also picked up some Gain detergent, and air freshener. Kristoff let her pick out the scent, which she actually enjoyed. As they climbed back into the truck, Anna struggled to come up with her next plan. Planning hadn't seemed to be in her favor. She'd have to return to that grubby place tomorrow and get her car back. Hopefully she wouldn't have do it through that creepy rude man again.

Then there was the nagging question of where she would stay. Her large eyes wandered over to Kristoff. His strong jaw was relaxed, and his dark eyes were focused on the road before them. Though Anna barely knew him, she didn't want part with him just yet. And waking up in his warm bed that morning was oddly comforting.

Breaking a somewhat charged silence, Kristoff suggested, "Let's head back to my place. After I feed Sven, we can figure out your next move."

_"That's the second time he's done that. I wonder if can he read minds, or something. Or maybe I'm just that transparent," _she pondered silently to herself.

"Sounds good."

En route to the apartment, the two carried light conversation. They swapped stories about family, and hobbies, and work. One thing led to another and soon they were on the topic of Anna's brush with uncertain death.

"So, how'd you wind up there exactly?"

"How much time you got?" Anna halfheartedly joked.

He smirked and answered, "Enough."

With a tiny slump in her shoulders, she looked at him. Better to haul this out of the shadows now, and put it to rest. So she told him.

Everything.

She told him about seeing Hans at The Rabbit Hole, and catching him in bed with the bartender. And how hard she threw that diamond at him. For a second, she felt a sudden pain in her heart as she realized that she would never wear that beautiful ring again. She told him how she drove away like a madwoman, and then left her car to walk. And finally, how she came in counter with those abominable men. Kristoff remained silent through her broadcast until she finished.

"I know that woman," he pointed out. "Her name is Alice. She's known for being...what's the word."

"Slutty?" she suggested.

"That's it," he said, snapping his fingers.

"Hm, go figure," Anna mumbled.

"I know that Hans guy, too. He comes in there all the time. I'd see him a lot when I was bouncing. He's as much of a slut as she is."

That comment stirred a bitty laugh from Anna. Then she felt his hand find hers again, and they looked right at each other.

"I'm sorry he hurt you."

"It's okay, I should have seen it coming. Well, I did in a way. He always came home late and drunk, and was so detached from me. I guess I just didn't want to believe it."

"Yeah, I know where you're coming from. I've been there before," he admitted.

"You have?"

"Once," he inhaled. "I was with this girl for a few years, and everything was going great," he paused, "but then she, ah, left me for someone else. Moved to London."

Anna sensed the tightness in his shoulders and gave his hand a little squeeze. "I'm sorry."

"Eh, don't be. It was years ago," he said. He appeared to be thinking intently.

"Have you been with anyone since then?"

He shook his shaggy head. "I haven't made an attempt at dating for...awhile," he exhaled.

"I can understand that," she answered neutrally. "I'm not sure if I can wrap my head around the whole dating thing either. Not after what I've been through," she said demurely.

"Yeah," said Kristoff. "It's a damn shame though. Cause I like the hell out of you."

Their eyes met, and Anna could feel the warmth spread like wildfire in her cheeks. Smiling from the pit of her heart she said, "Thanks. I like the hell out of you, too."

* * *

Anna was so tired by the time they entered Kristoff's apartment that she was sure all she was good for was a nap. It had been a long day, and it was only the middle of the afternoon. She lugged her suitcase to the bathroom down the hallway and stripped off Kristoff's baggy atire. Anna folded them neatly, and set them down on the toilet seat. Combing through her clothes she extracted fresh underwear, a thin maroon T-shirt, and black straight-legged pants. She was finally feeling like herself again.

"I think I'm going to take a nap," she said, "is that okay?"

"Yeah. That's a good idea," Kristoff replied as he rolled down the top of the dog food bag. He cocked an eyebrow at her, and she laughed.

"You want to take one too?"

"I'm in for a nap," he assured, yawning.

"Well, then come on."

Anna tapped the back of her leg and trotted into his bedroom. She fell onto his bed with a feeling of peaceful delight. Kristoff came in soon after her, and shut the door behind him. Crawling in next to her, he laid flat on his back and threw an arm over his head. He blew out a weighted breath and nuzzled down deeper into the mattress. Anna watched his broad chest rise and fall as his breathing became more calm and even.

Then, with heavy vacillation, the redhead scooted closer and tucked her head into the nook between his chest and shoulder. He was so warm, and he smelled good. Kristoff peeked down at her and smiled to himself. A second later his strong arm came around and circled her tiny shoulders. Anna snuggled into him a bit more while resting a hand to his chest.

In the quiet apartment, with the cooling system blowing a steady stream of cool air into the bedroom, it only took them a few minutes to fall asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey guys! SOO sorry I haven't updated sooner. I had fallen victim to writer's block again. Thankfully, I actually know where I want to go with this now! (Finally). Anyways, here's chapter 11! Really hope you guys like it! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Anna woke all of a sudden, and was completely awake. While she napped, the sky had darkened in a way that looked like rain. Kristoff wasn't next to her anymore. Maybe on some level she'd heard him close the bedroom door when he left; or maybe she'd registered the rumble of his voice in the living room. Taking a quick glance at the clock, she swung quietly off the bed and padded to the door—her bare feet silent on the beige carpet. Anna pushed open the door a fraction and positioned her head at the crack.

"You're sure you need me tonight?" Kristoff's deep gravely voice said. He sounded miffed.

There was a patch of silence, meaning he must have been on the phone.

"Uh, yeah," he sighed. "Yeah. That's fine. I'll be there in ten."

Anna heard the tiny beep of the cordless receiver, then the phone returning to it's base. Moments later there was a knock on the bedroom door. As she let Kristoff in, she hoped she didn't have any funny creases on her face.

"Oh, you're up," he said, leaning against the doorframe. "Listen, I've gotta work the bar tonight. Alice called me in. Apparently one of the regular guys has food poisoning or something," he said unenthusiastically. "I'm sorry to leave you. Will you be alright here by yourself?"

Hearing the owner's name put a bad taste in her mouth, but she nodded. "I'll be just fine."

"Okay, there's some frozen things in the fridge if you get hungry, and I fed Sven already, so you don't have to worry about him."

Kristoff crossed the threshold, and began digging around in a dresser on the opposite side of the room. He selected a black T-shirt with some purple writing on it, then briskly pulled the one he had on off of his back. As Anna stared at him, she bit her lip and tried not to let her mouth fall open.

He was impeccably lovely.

The black shirt had BOUNCER in large purple letters on the back, and just below it in smaller print read the bar's slogan: "Feed Your Head".

Darkness crept down the hallway and spilled into the dimly lit bedroom. Anna peered at the clock again. It was a quarter past eight. She looked back at Kristoff and felt her face flush with heat. He was in the midst of removing his jeans. "Oh, I-I'm sorry. I'll, uh, give you some privacy. S-sorry," she stammered and forced her feet to move.

Closing the door behind her she padded down the hall into the living room. Sven greeted her excitedly, his bushy tail wiggling back and forth. The redhead perched next to him on the long sectional and patted his head frantically, trying to shake away the image of Kristoff's admirable behind.

Seconds later, the towering man emerged from the dark hallway. He pulled out a pair of large black boots from the coat closet next to the front door, and they were laced onto his feet in minutes. Keys in hand, he made for the door—then stopped. "I won't get back 'til pretty late," he said, turning to look at her. "So, don't wait up. You can take the bedroom again tonight. I can cook us some breakfast in the morning."

Anna smiled. "Okay."

A nagging something brought her to her feet. Rushing over to him, she gently placed a hand on his arm. "Thank you for letting me stay another night. You've been awfully nice to me," she said, trying not to sound as confused and touched as she felt. "I guess wasn't really expecting that."

"No need to thank me. You're not what I was expecting, either," he said. Acting on sudden instinct, Kristoff leaned downward and kissed the copper hair at her forehead. His lips lingered as he inhaled her sweet scent. Then, as if someone had dumped cold water on him, he jerked away. Embarrassment quickly flooding his face. "Okay, I'll see you later then."

In a blink, he sheepishly whirled and shut the front door behind him.

Anna gave the door a sideways glance. Obviously a kiss on the head isn't as astonishing as a kiss on the lips. But it was a kiss, nonetheless. Staring stupidly at the mahogany door, she mulled over the rush of desire she felt from him. It wasn't like he made a verbal proposition, or thrown her down on the living room floor.

She had sensed it's subtly, but appreciated the delicacy in his affection.

Anna gave that a long moment's contemplation, and then she closed her eyes and counted to ten. She was missing Hans in a most elemental and unexpected way. Her first clue was the tug-below-the-belt she felt when she fully took in Kristoff's physique. This called attention to the fact that she'd seen him almost fully naked twice. It seemed as though Kristoff didn't bother feeling skittish around her when it came to his body. If only she had enough courage to make a move...

She was going to have to watch her step.

* * *

The bar was full that night. And as time went on, it seemed like more people were pouring in by the handfuls. Which wasn't surprising. The Rabbit Hole sparked a business boom after they decided to do Half-off Nights (Alice's idea). At first, Kristoff was positioned at the door, carding and turning away hopeful, skimpily dressed minors. Then later in the night, he took post beside the bar near the emergency exit. Standing like stone, his eyes washed over the crowded room again and again.

A bouncer's job isn't necessarily fabricated on thrills. In fact, fights at The Rabbit Hole seemed oddly seldom. And since Kristoff was a sub, he hadn't seen much action to begin with anyway. Once in a while there'd be that one drunk guy egging on another. Or some minuscule scrapes between patrons. But nothing outrageous. Kristoff had intentions of doing his job and returning back home without any scuffles, like always.

Which just goes to prove he doesn't have second sight.

Half way through his shift, Kristoff spotted Hans Rienhardt slither up to the bar. You could tell at a first glance Hans was already drunk. He swayed heavily on his feet, and his eyes were especially slow. He was slurring something to the person behind the bar.

There was another bartender on duty that evening; a pretty faced girl with wild, red curly hair. Merida DunBroch was straight out of Scotland, and known for being tough as nails. And (naturally) her thick accent and place of origin drew the collective attention of patrons, so her tip jar was hardly ever light.

Whatever Hans was saying to her she didn't seem to take it too well. Her face scrunched into a bitter frown and she shook her head vigorously. Kristoff had the creeping suspicion he was hitting on her. Then, as if on que, Alice came bustling out of the woodwork, practically screaming sex.

She was eerily striking in a black strapless bustier peplum top and knee-length pencil skirt. Her long hair was pin straight and neatly parted down the middle, and her makeup was done with a heavy hand; red lips and all. The black attire made her fair skin appear milky white. Kristoff wondered if the overdone "vampire" look was of her own inclination, or if she'd adopted it simply for the scrutiny.

Alice didn't waste any time. Her cherry lips were on Hans' faster than you could say "fiestypants". And that she was. Merida crinkled her nose at the two, and sauntered away to attend to those seated at the bar. Kristoff felt a sudden ignition of heat in his lungs—swirling and fuming. He forced his eyes back to the congested room.

"Kristoff!"

The familiar voice came from his left, and sure enough, Alice was voyaging toward him with Hans on her arm. He did his best to be civil to the both of them, after all, the betrayal they symbolized didn't really have anything to do with him. Unforeseen tension was palpable when Hans finally got a good look at the man they were talking to. His body grew rigid and his eyes were as cold as snakes.

"Thanks for filling in, Kris. Poor Tony sounded just awful on the phone," Alice said, mindlessly stroking her collarbone.

"Sure," he answered stiffly.

"By the way, how's Anna doing?"

Kristoff's eyes snapped at her and he couldn't hide the expression that fell across his face. Alice smirked at him, and felt Hans' muscles tighten beneath her fingertips. She patted him softly.

"What are you talk—"

"Oh please, don't play dumb. I know she's staying with you."

"How did—"

"A girl has her ways," she interrupted again, looking at him with murky eyes.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing with **_my_** woman?" Hans shouted, stumbling a bit as he did so. Green envy flowed through his veins like venom.

"Taking care of her," Kristoff answered coolly. "Better than you did, anyway."

This seemed to set Hans' snowballing fury on fire. "You better fucking watch it, Bjorgman," he threatened, his face inches away from Kristoff's.

The question of how Hans knew his name hadn't registered at the moment.

"You better watch it! You really hurt that girl," he barked back, refusing to back down. "How dare you call her your woman! She doesn't belong to you. Not anymore."

"You shut the **fuck **up!" Hans growled. He had the heat of battle in his dull green eyes.

Kristoff opened his mouth, rage tensing all his muscles. But before he could retort, Hans was on him.

In one clean stride, he clipped him square in the jaw. He didn't hold back one bit, and Kristoff went fumbling backward—his back colliding with the hard metal door of the emergency exit at his right. Alice shrieked and stood shaking with reaction behind Hans. With a face as red as his auburn hair, Hans threw another fist. But this time Kristoff was quick on the uptake and swiftly dodged it. Grabbing hold of Hans by the scruff of his white V-neck, he shoved him out the door and onto the wet pavement.

He went down like a sack of cement and let out a yell as he went, but the ground knocked all the air out of him, along with some skin. Light rain droplets drizzled downward onto their shoulders and backs. After taking a second to catch his breath, Kristoff turned to go back inside. But there was a strong tug on his shoulder, and as he spun to look, Hans socked him deep in the abdomen.

"How'ssthat feel, you piece of shit," he slurred.

Kristoff doubled over in pain and slumped to his knees. Clutching fistfuls of muddy gravel in his hands, he gasped for air. He'd been trying to be quiet, hoping to resolve this without much hubbub, but he was past that point now.

Kristoff felt his attacker's presence above him and, as fast as possible, rolled out of the way—missing the sharp elbow that came crashing down. He then quickly seized Hans by the arm, and shoved a handful of slick powdered rock into his glazed eyes. Hans retreated, hissing in pain. Then, Kristoff finally got his first lick in.

With his free hand, he bashed his howling opponent in the nose, over and over, and felt the nasty crack of bones from under his knuckles. Hans fell limply to the ground again, oozing blood along the way. Panting heavily, Kristoff kept his heated eyes fixated on him—awaiting the next strike. During this time, he noticed the considerable amount of spectators gathered at the back door, and lining the outside walls of the bar.

There was a loaded silence.

Hushed whispers of comments and questions buzzed in the humid night air as all eyes rested upon Hans' immobile body. Kristoff could hear one guy ask, "Is he dead?"

Just then Hans stirred, and began to slowly peel himself off the ground. He looked over at Kristoff, sticky strings of blood dripping unpleasantly from his mouth. His eyes were positively bizarre and he began laughing; the deranged sound bounced off the walls and echoed down the street.

The battered man took to his feet and stood in an ominous crouch, his crazy eyes piercing straight through the blond man opposite of him. Feeling slightly trapped, Kristoff steadied himself.

As another second slipped, Hans lunged, and his large hands captured Kristoff at the neck. Struggling to pry him away, Kristoff fell backward, taking his assailant down with him. This gave Hans the advantage, and he immediately climbed atop of him.

Regrettably, for a brief moment, Kristoff's ego got the better of him.

"What's wrong Hans? Can't accept the fact she left you?" he murmured. "I'll treat her better than you ever did." A vile spittle of blood abruptly stuck him the eye, and the vice-like grip around his throat tightened, as fingernails dug deep into his flesh. _"Stupid—dumb, dumb, dumb,"_ he thought to himself. Heart-wrenching fear surged through him as his esophagus began to collapse under the pressure.

A chorus of reaction from the bystanders mixed distressingly with the horrible noises of their combat.

The pain was unrelenting, and the lack of air supply was even more so. At that exact moment, Kristoff realized Hans intended on killing him. He hadn't said it aloud, but the look in his wild crooked stare made that quite clear. His demented laughter grew louder and punctured his ears. Kristoff could lie there passively and take a beating, but he would not lie there and be killed.

Urgently, Kristoff criss-crossed his hands between Hans' stiff arms and tore them away from his throat. The restraint loosened and the critical need for oxygen swelled his lungs.

Then, with all the might he could muster, Kristoff gave Hans a final blow to the face.

Hans stiffened, and crumbled with a loud thud onto the damp concrete. This seemed to do the trick, but Kristoff couldn't be too sure. After waiting a few more seconds, he kicked the rest of Hans' body away and rolled onto his stomach, retching and wheezing. The burning in his throat was enough to make tears trickle down his cheeks.

It took awhile, but very gradually, the fill-in bouncer stood up. A few people came to his aid, but he politely shook them off. If he had any leeway with his emotions, the hair would have stood up on his scalp. That was the closest to death he had ever came. Needless to say, he was definitely shaken.

Still slightly ensnared in his rage, Kristoff gave Hans a solid kick to the spine, and then the fighting stopped all together.

That last kick had done something dreadful to Hans. He could hear his own breathing, stertorous, and an odd bubbling sound was coming directly from his lungs.

Then someone stepped into the no-man's land between Kristoff and the (yet again) motionless Hans. It was the fiery-haired bartender who stood watching through the whole fight. Meeting at Kristoff's heaving chest and very pale, she had intense turquoise eyes—a jarring contrast with her red hair.

"My lord, are you alright, lad?" she asked, her voice soft and her accent heavily Scottish.

"Yeah, I think so," he said, summoning up as much dignity as he could while clutching onto his aching rib cage. Kristoff straightened up from his weakening fighting stance, and inclined his head to the small girl, acknowledging her authority.

"That's one of the best matches I've seen since me father took on Ailbeart McBratney," she said, admiration in her voice.

"Oh, ah, thank you," he answered uneasily.

"You need to clear this man out," Merida said, turning the chalky-white Alice, "after apologizing to this gentleman."

She milled around restlessly, and shot Merida a dirty glare. Her pride couldn't handle the whole situation. The owner telegraphed her move before she'd even begun it, and quick as lightening the young Scot snatched Alice's thin wrist in a move so fast, Kristoff couldn't even glimpse it.

Alice was pegging to slap the red-haired girl silly and order her out of the joint, along with the man who beat her alleged "boyfriend" to a mindless pulp. But upon suddenly realizing how strong the Scottish girl was, she reluctantly did as she was told.

Fifteen minutes later, the outside area of the bar was absolutely silent as the bloody Hans was carried out by a team of paramedics. They began checking Kristoff over for damage, but he graciously turned down their attention. He wasn't in need of a demanding medical analysis. The two young men chorused their apologies as they lifted Hans and removed him from the scene of the bar.

Then the voices started up again, the small bartender returned to the serving area, and Kristoff began shaking.

"I'm fine," he said, just wanting everyone to look somewhere else.

"But your bleeding," said a male bystander.

It was true; his elbows were quite messy, and a few cuts across his neck were beginning to trail blood.

"They're just a couple of scratches. Nothing some Neosporin can't handle," he said, instantly.

Beyond calling it a night, Kristoff weaved his way through the gawking crowd and out to his truck.

The sidewalk seemed to have much more of a menace to it than when he arrived. Slipping into the front seat, he turned on the engine. His throat hurt like the six shades of hell, but other than that, he seemed to be okay. There was a dull pain in his ribs, along with his stomach, but those things would fade with time. Unfortunately, Kristoff knew what a beating felt like, and just how long it took certain wounds to heal.

After all, he hadn't taken up the job as a bouncer for nothing.

* * *

**A/N: Ah man, I've been waiting to concoct this chapter! The battle of the bros! I'm sorry this one's kinda short (especially with all the hype that may have been built leading up to it). But hopefully it didn't disappoint. The theme song I had going for this scene was definitely Megadeth's "Take No Prisoners". Such a perfect brawl jam. **

**Now, as fair warning, the next chapter will have some sexual things going on, SO, if you're not too keen on that business, feel free to skip it. I'll make sure to remind you all in the disclaimer. Also, I won't put any critical information needed for the storyline in there. Just fluff and what not. Thank you guys so, so much for reading! I'll try my best to have the next one out sooner, but I should really stop making promises, shouldn't I? So just bear with me friends! **

**Thank you again. -TheFlea **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey all! Finally out with chapter 12. FAIR WARNING: This chapter is smutty my friends, so if that doesn't tickle your fancy, you're more than welcome to skip over it. **

**Also, side note, I'm going back through the chapters to change Hans' last name. I wasn't aware they gave him one in the movie, since they don't announce it. (If they totally did, well, I didn't pick it up). But apparently he has one I guess? So, yeah. Cool. Anyway, hope ya like it!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It was around one in the morning when the rain picked up. The loud pelting against the windows drew Anna out of her light sleep. She stared out toward the pitch black sky for a length of time, loosely thinking about everything that'd happened over the past week.

Those thoughts hadn't brought up good feelings.

She channeled her mind to something else. Anything else. During their outing yesterday, she'd discovered Kristoff was on the fourth floor of an apartment building uptown. The hazy lighting of the distant skyline illuminated the rain drops that slithered down the bedroom windows.

A quick flash of lightning flooded the room, and was soon followed by a clap of rumbling thunder. Anna clutched the edge of her pillow. Thunderstorms weren't her favorite. Eventually, she made herself get up since it appeared she wasn't going to be getting anymore sleep. At least not for a while. She yanked on a short, pink, nylon robe over her nightgown and trudged down the dark hallway. Flipping on a light switch, she found Sven curled up in the living room.

The mutt slept in a large dog bed on the floor next to the plushy chair. Anna slumped against the living room wall for a long moment, feeling dejected. It wasn't a good thing to just sit around, being depressed. With light footsteps, she sunk down in the recliner, and turned on the television.

She hadn't really payed much attention to any of the programs, but she appreciated the noise. Her sister stumbled across her mind briefly. She'd have to give Elsa a call in the morning to touch base. As somber as it had made her, she knew she couldn't stay at Kristoff's another night. And if she was being honest, she'd taken up too much of his time already.

There was a noise to her left as the front door clicked and turned. In a second or two, Kristoff wobbled weakly onto the carpet and was dripping all over it. His eyes met hers briefly, but they were fairly cold and thwarting. She hadn't realized he was injured until he started moving further; huddled into a strange crouch. Her host shuffled along with a light limp, and was delicately holding onto his side.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, leaving the chair.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he nodded.

It took her a moment to spot the dried blood cluttered around his throat. She bounded toward him to get a better view.

"I-Is that blood? What happened?"

Once she got closer, Kristoff noticed how thinly dressed his house guest was. Her apricot nightgown quit around her thighs, and the folds of her robe hung open at her sides. His mouth grew dry.

"I, ah...got into an altercation with a patron," he said carefully.

She looked at him. Her eyes narrowed. Anna shot his neck another glance. "How bad of an altercation?"

He hesitated. "Well, it was with Hans...so how bad could it have been?"

There was sarcasm in his voice, but Anna hadn't picked up on it. "What?"

"Never mind. It's a long story," he said, and continued past her.

"Oh no you don't," she said gruffly. The questions crowded in too thick for her to deal with, and there was no way she was letting him skip the conversation. "I want to know what happened."

Kristoff blew out a long sigh and shifted on his tired feet. "I don't really want to go into it. It was nothing."

"No it wasn't. Y-You're hurt. Now tell me, please." There was a load of determination in her face.

"Anna I—"

Before he could argue another word, she ducked into the bathroom and rummaged through the medicine cabinet for a first aid kit. She returned quickly and quietly, and tugged Kristoff over to the long sectional. Anna perched across from him and fixed her eyes upon his, signaling she was listening.

He hissed another sigh, and slicked back his damp hair. He really needed to get out of these wet clothes. "Alright, fine. I'm not really sure how it started," he said. "Alice, ah, came over with him. And I think she had the night off. But..." He started telling her that Alice had somehow figured out her whereabouts, but he knew she'd ask questions he couldn't answer. Plus the mention of Alice's name had sent a bland look into Anna's rosy face. "Hans was wasted," he said instead.

"No surprise, there," she scoffed. She carefully cleaned up the bloody, crusted half-moons Hans had left on him as he talked.

"Yeah. I think he's real pissed about us spending time together," he continued. "'Cause the next thing I knew, he was on me."

Anna eyes darted up at his, and he caught the faintest glint of guilt.

"So, I did what I needed to do to defend myself," he finished.

"What'd he do to you?" she asked, giving the small wounds another once-over.

Kristoff's cold eyes acknowledged her question and his jaw fell into a hard line. "He strangled me," he said, cautiously feeling around his bruised neck. "He had a strong hold on me, too," Kristoff admitted. "For a second I thought he was going to kill me. I knew he wanted to. I could see it in face." Anna stopped dabbing him with a cotton ball, and stared at him.

"Kill you? Hans isn't the best person around, but he would never intentionally try to kill someone."

"You sure about that? You didn't see the look in his eye, Anna. And clearly you don't know all that much about the guy yourself." Kristoff had noticed that his hands curled into fists. She also noticed the broken skin along his knuckles, and began working on them as well.

His voice chilled. "I got him off me, to put it mildly."

"Is he okay?" She didn't want to care, but she couldn't help it. Together or not, Anna still loved Hans, and that love was going to take some time to dissipate.

"He will be."

After that little tale, the two fell silent by mutual consent.

When she finished up with his minor injuries, Anna placed the items back into their little case. A fold of her pink robe slipped down to her elbow, revealing more of her ivory flesh. "I'm sorry, Kristoff. I didn't mean for you to get involved. I'm responsible for all of this."

Kristoff's eyes concentrated on her exposed skin, and he mentally lost himself for a minute.

"I wouldn't say that," he said, slightly disoriented. "He's the one that betrayed you, right?" Kristoff gradually eased closer to her, his arm resting along the back of the sofa. "You know, he's an idiot for giving you up."

If he himself was fortunate enough to have Anna for his own, he would provide her with the love and warmth she deserved. He couldn't understand how anyone would let someone like that slip through their fingers willingly. She was...unlike anyone he'd ever met. So full of life—so vibrant.

They say there's no harm in daydreaming, but there is. Because the next thing he knew, he was touching her; his fingers trailing down her freckled shoulder blade. Her skin was velvet against his hand.

Anna shivered all over.

She turned to face Kristoff and peered up at him. His face was uncertain, but his eyes were sanguine. She didn't know what to do. But she knew what she _wanted _to do.

"W-We shouldn't," she whispered, just inches away from his mouth. "I'm still getting out of a relationship, and I don't want to get you into...more trouble."

"Bad timing," he agreed.

Kristoff set a hand on the back of Anna's neck, and rubbed her cheek with his thumb. Her face ran hot at his touch. Though conflicted, she was reluctant to end the comfort of being close to someone—no, of being close to Kristoff. When she didn't move away, he slowly put his lips to hers, giving her every chance to slip out of reach.

His mouth brushed hers once, twice.

Then he finally gave in, and settled into kissing her. His kiss was soft. And warm.

So was his tongue.

It took about half a second for Anna to link her arms around his neck, and for his hands to find her back. She ran her fingers through the uneven hair at his nape. Then up the back of his head. The heat of his tongue filled her mouth, stroking.

Then his kiss became more urgent. His lips strayed down her neck, to the sensitive and vulnerable place just at the base of her throat, and his teeth nipped at it lightly.

Anna gasped. She just couldn't help it. Heat surged through her abdomen when he kissed her again. Since the two had met, there was an obvious attraction between them, and now the smoldering ember had just burst into flame. As Anna struggled to hold on to some sense, she gently pulled back.

His amber eyes regarded her carefully—unsure if that was okay, or even allowed. Her hands were still mindlessly roaming his scalp. He was so close to her, he could count the freckles dusting her cheeks and nose. Kristoff's eyes switched back and forth between her and her mouth. Staring silently back, Anna felt slightly embarrassed and was absolutely ready to jump him.

"I'm sorry," he breathed, breaking the thin silence. "I've wanted to do that since the night at the bar."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," she giggled.

They did some more staring. "Was that okay?" he asked in a minuscule murmur.

Anna considered that. Yes and no. This all felt _so_ good. The recent drought she'd been floundering in romantically was taking it's toll. On the contrary, she felt sorry for starting something the instant Hans stepped out of the picture. Yes, he cheated on her. And yes, we was outright scum. But just the other day she was engaged to the man, and had the glittering proof sported on her finger.

She wasn't about to have a long discussion over the pros and cons of the situation. The inner debate had been tough enough. And she knew there would be another time to have a long yada-yada about the moral aspects of mating with someone you didn't necessarily love.

Besides, what's casual sex good for then?

But Anna didn't want this to be a causal brush of intimacy. She wanted something that had a real chance of developing and, most importantly, lasting. And so far, that seemed plausible with Kristoff. He was such a daunting prospect to a relatively inexperienced woman like Anna. She suddenly felt like a car that'd only been operated by one driver. A car it's new prospective buyer was determined to take to the Daytona 500.

"The only thing is," she began. This conversation would've came much more easily to someone who was frank, but Anna wrestled uneasily with her thoughts and words. "You know that we have, uh, a lot of..." she gestured back and forth with her hands.

"Chemistry," he said.

"Right," she answered. "But if were looking at the big picture here, we only met a few days ago. And I'm not really sure I want to make that next step."

She hated to say it, but she had to. She didn't need to cause herself more pain.

"I've got big lust," she said in his defense. "_Huge_ lust...but I'm just not a one-night-stand kind of girl."

"Who said this had to be like that?" His thick brows marred in a tiny frown.

"Isn't that how these things usually go?"

"No, not always. I-I really like you, Anna. I don't just want sex from you," Kristoff said, and his voice had gotten much more stern. She could tell he was being sincere, and that she'd mildly upset him.

"Really?" Anna couldn't help sounding incredulous.

"Really."

Her lips were hovering an inch away from his when she asked, "Well then, what do you want?"

Color swept across Kristoff's face at her inquiry, and he swallowed hard. With a rocky voice, he replied, "Uh, w-well...I, ah, I...I want you. T-To be with you, I mean."

"Me too," she said after a moment's scan of her inner qualms to make sure they were minor. A dopey smile crept along Kristoff's lips. Anna didn't have a built-in truth detector, but she felt as though she'd be able to tell if he just saying that to get in her pants. And from the look in his soft amber eyes, that hadn't seem to be the case. "_Oh_,_ to hell with thinking_," she thought to herself. "Then...okay."

"Okay," he repeated. His smile this time was far more feral. In the next moment, his dark eyes got that focused look people get when they're thinking of sex specifically. He leaned back in to kiss her again, but with more fervor the second time around. They kissed for a while, over and over. Becoming fully familiar with each other's mouths.

In one easy motion, Anna swung her leg over him and straddled his lap. She momentarily hiked the bottom of her nightgown up around her thighs, and eased into him some more. Their lips pressed together again and she gently rocked against him. That really got him excited, and she could concur.

Then, lickety-split, Kristoff was on his feet and his arms around her were as tight as ropes, tying them together. "Bedroom," she said, a little raggedly, and he nodded. Scooping her up, Anna's slender arms laced around his neck and she continued to kiss him on the way. Kristoff dumped Anna onto his mattress, and they proceeded with an escalated tempo. His hands and mouth were busy examining her body. Down the line of her back, to the curve of her hips, back up to her shoulders to cup her face for a minute, down to brush her throat with the lightest of fingertips.

Then those fingers found her breasts, which were practically quivering like puppies who wanted to be petted. The flimsy material of her satin nightgown hadn't really left much to the imagination. A skinny strap fell over her shoulder, giving him the opportunity to slip his hand beneath the other and lower the fabric enough to see the curves that formed her cleavage. Anna wasn't all that full chested, but Kristoff didn't mind a bit.

Soon the robe, nightgown, and whatever was under it, was out of sight and Anna was completely exposed to him. Kristoff spent some quality time nuzzling her neck, and kissing his way down to a breast while her nervous fingers struggled with his belt. But they weren't working fast enough. So her hands focused on his soggy shirt.

Kristoff momentarily slipped away from her, and presto, the shirt was off.

When she first saw Kristoff shirtless, Anna half-expected him to be covered in hair. Other than a thin patch gathered at his sternum, and a curious blond trail descending below his jeans, he was bare. What he is, is muscular. And somewhat bruised.

"Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, we don't have to if you're hurting," Anna said, gently touching a purple and maroon area beneath his collarbone.

"I'm sure," he said hoarsely, and they picked up where they'd left off with the kissing.

He began dealing with his belt while Anna pressed her lips to all the little cuts and scrapes spread along his upper body. Then she began to explore his nipples, which were (not so surprisingly) very hard. Kristoff's whole body jerked, and he stopped what he was doing to run his fingers through her hair and hold her head against him. He sighed, though it came out more like a growl, vibrating through his chest.

Anna's free hand yanked at his pants again, and he resumed working on his belt but in an unfocused, and distracted way. To her delight, his pants and underwear came off in one clean pull. The line from his hip to his thigh was just mouthwatering. As she studied him with interest, a sudden thought yanked her right out of the flow of the moment.

"K-Kristoff, do you have, you know...?" She might've had one in her purse, but that was too far away from her at the moment to go searching, plus she didn't want to interrupt this any further.

"Of course," he said, pulling a little package out of the bedside drawer.

"Thank god," she said from her heart. She would've thrown herself from the fire escape if they had to quit. By the time he fastened his mouth on her right nipple, she was pushing against him and making noises that couldn't be mistaken for anything but desperate.

She was so on fire for him she was surprised flames didn't flicker from her fingertips. Anna curled her fingers around his length and stroked graciously. She felt him quiver all over when she touched him. With a bit of haste, Kristoff rolled on the condom. And then he was on top of her, anticipating entry. She was so ready, she wanted to scream it. Anna quickly reached down between them to place him at just the right spot, and absently rubbed his tip against her nub as she did so.

"A-Anna," he groaned, and pushed.

Though she'd made sure she was prepared, and ached with wanting him, the copper-haired girl cried out with the shock of it. After a moment of adjustment, he said, "Don't close your eyes."

He leaned forward and cooed,"I want to see you," in her ear, and pulled out. Anna tried to yank him back, to keep him as close to her as physically possible, but he sneaked further away and began kissing his way down her freckled skin. He made strategic stops, and she was practically fluttering off the golden cusp when he got all the way down. His mouth was gifted, and his tongue took the place of his shaft. Every once in a while, he would look up the length of her body to make sure she was watching. And she was, with great curiosity.

His lips and fingers picked up the pace, faster and faster. A sudden bolt of lightning lit up the room, and in the next second, Anna was floating on the most powerful wave of pleasure she'd ever felt. The minute the shining wave subsided, Kristoff was kissing her, and she could taste her fluids on him. Before she had time to think, he was back inside of her, and it happened all over again.

As Anna felt the aftershocks of her orgasm, Kristoff's moment came soon after. All the muscles in his face tightened, and he squeezed his eyes shut. Wrapping it up with a long groan, he collapsed on top of her. After a few minutes of recollection, he lifted his head to look down at Anna. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, and little beads of sweat covered her forehead and shoulders.

A familiar feeling settled in Anna, and she wished Kristoff would comb his fingers through her hair, as Hans had done sometimes after sex. (Anna never asked him, he'd just do it, and she found it to be reassuring). She forced the thought away. Hans was the only other person Anna had been intimate with, and she falsely assumed he was going to be the last. The truth was, it hurt more than ever to remember her previous one-man status, now gone for good.

Anna snapped herself back into The Moment. She pushed back the thick hair from Kristoff's warm forehead, and smiled up at him. His eyes on hers were intent, and she knew he was waiting for her to speak. "That was...just what I was expecting," she said. "Maybe better. Definitely better."

"Ha, really? What were you expecting?" he asked, running his fingertips over her hipbone.

"I'm not sure. Everything."

"I'm just happy to hear you weren't disappointed," he said. Anna watched the tension slowly leave his shoulders.

"Oh, god, no. Far from it," she reassured.

She felt so comfortable with this gorgeous but unknown stranger when she looked into his eyes. Anna observed a fine path of light freckles dotting his nose and upper cheeks. She hadn't noticed them before, and seeing them now had made him even more beautiful. The pale light from outside spilled onto the left side of his face. His hair was sprawled over his pillow, shining and golden.

"I feel kind of...silly," Anna said after a long moment.

"Why's that?"

"Well, I've never done anything like this before."

"Never done what?" His cinnamon eyes regarded hers.

"This. Sleeping with someone I don't really know. It's exciting," she said.

Kristoff chuckled lightly, and his fingers began moving up towards her navel. "You could know me," he said. "I mean, you kinda already do. I don't have any secrets. I'm just an ice deliverer. It's you that's the mystery."

His fingers moved from her abdomen to her silky hair that fanned across his pillow. He combed through the area above her ear, and tucked some loose strands away. Goosebumps rushed along her arms and shoulders, and she smiled, relishing in the familiar feeling.

"What do you want to know?" she asked, looking over at him with modest eyes.

"Who's side of the family did you get your red hair from?"

"I'm not sure," she said after a pause. "My sister Elsa is really blonde, and she's been that way ever since we were little. I think she got that from our grandfather on my dad's side. But I don't really know who I got my coloring from. My mother was dark-haired and my father was a golden blonde. I'm the only one with all these freckles, too."

Kristoff's eyes snakes down the works of her body. "I like them."

He eventually found her mouth again, and kissed her softly. When he rolled onto his back, he pulled her easily along with him until she was straddling his waist. Then his hands continued their route along her curves, and she jerked in arousal when she felt them down low. He lifted his himself and allowed Anna to situate so he could enter her.

It wasn't such a shock this time, and it was much slower. As she delicately rode him, he asked her to look into his eyes again; that obviously seemed to flick his Bic.

Anna was exhausted when it was over, though the second time around was almost better than the first. She'd heard fables from her friends about guys who didn't care if the woman had had her pleasure or not. Perhaps those men just assumed that because they were happy, their partner was, too. But neither of the men she'd slept with had done that. Maybe she was just lucky.

Kristoff held Anna with her head on his shoulder. As they eased further into one another, he showered her with whispered compliments and continued to stroke her hair.

"You're so beautiful," she said into his neck, then slipped quickly back to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Man, I was itching for this chapter to arrive! That sexual tension was killing me slowly. Anyways, for those who chose to stick around, thank you, and I hope you enjoyed it! In the next few chapters I'm thinking of changing direction in the story, so get ready. **

**AND IN OTHER NEWS: I was thinking of starting up yet another Frozen fic (surprise, surprise). Maybe do some sort of Harry Potter crossover with other Disney and non-Disney characters thrown in? **

**So be on the look out for that if you're interested. **

**I am continuing on with this story, though, so don't worry my duckies! **

**But, if you'd like, you can check out the other one once I get the first chapter up. I'll link it at the bottom in one of the upcoming chapters to this fic. So, uh...yeah, I think that's about it. Again, thank you guys so so much for reading and giving me your feedback! You're all the awesome :)**

**Til next time guize -TheFlea**


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